Pokemon Mark
by turtyrus
Summary: Mark was sent to the Pokemon world by his father to survive something wrong that went on with the lab. Mark wants to get home by trying to figure out how to work a small device that his father used to get him their in the first place. but how will Mark react when his life in the world of pokemon turns into a game of life or death? contains gore, strong language, and possible lemons
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Mark.

_He was running, with tears of fear and confusion leaking down his cheeks. He knew he wasn't home, nor would he possibly ever get home. He was alone in this forest, and he knew there was a possibility that he might die._

_He was so fucking scared. _

_He ran and ran and ran trying to think of where to go so he decided to the moon. He had no coherent thought of how this would help, but he felt he had no choice, that may be his only option. _

_When he passed all the trees he felt relief, but when he saw the moon in the reflection of the lake he looked around like an animal trapped in a cage. In front of him was a large lake, but trees where all around, showing no signs of life. He broke down and cried then, tears and a little bit of snot soaking into his Pink Floyd t-shirt. There was no civilization. Was he possibly the only human here?_

_He continued to sob helplessly. He only stopped when something emerged from the lake. He looked at it curiously, then with fear when he saw it was quite large. He nearly wetted himself when he saw that whatever it was, it was much larger then a house. _

_Before him appeared a giant blue serpent, with a look of utter outrage._

"_I'M GONNA FUCKING DIE!" He shouted while a beam of light emerged from the mouth of the serpent. _

"_SLAKING, USE BLIZZARD!" A voice yelled from behind. Before his eyes the giant serpent was being encased in ice. _

"Hey, Mark!" An old man called from the back of the poke-mart. "I need your help with some boxes!"

"I'll be right there Mr. Conner!" Mark called back from the counter. He leaned over the counter and gave a little boy his change. The boy grabbed it with his free hand and licked the lollipop that was held in the other.

"Thank you, mister!" The boy said cheerfully.

"No problem, little man." Mark said with a wink. Mark walked over to the back to see Mr. Conner holding three boxes, trying to balance himself to make sure none of the boxes fell over.

"Mr. Conner!" Mark rushed over to take off the first two boxes. He looked at Mr. Conner with worry.

"You shouldn't carry too much at one time! Your back might give out!"

Mr. Conner walked past him and Mark followed.

"Pish-Posh!" Mr. Conner said to Mark. "I may be an old man, but I'm not out of the loop yet!"

They set down the boxes in a corner in the front of the store and Mr. Conner looked at Mark with fire in his eyes.

"I used to also to be quite the ladies man you know!" He said with a triumphant laugh, leaning back. An audible crack followed and he was holding his back and his laughter ended.

Mark put a friendly hand on his shoulder.

"Used to, being the important word." He said with a small smile. "I'll go get the rest of the boxes, you go ahead and sit at the counter." He turned to do so.

"Did you hear the rumor about the Master Ball?" Mr. Conner asked from the front.

"Can't say that I have."

"It's just a rumor, but it is supposedly a Pokeball that can catch a Pokemon without fail. Can you imagine that?" Mr. Conner said. "Imagine how much money this shop could make if we could sell something like that!"

"You might lose profit if you actually sold something like that." Mark said returning.

"How so?"

"Well, people usually stockpile on Pokeballs over here. Someone actually bought twenty just yesterday, remember?" He put down the boxes and walked over to the counter. "Guy said he was going to go Abra hunting. If we had Master Balls, all that guy would have to do is buy one Master Ball and then he would be on his way. You might lose profit that way. Depending on how much you sell them for."

Mr. Conner thought about for a moment and nodded.

"You may be right." He looked Mark in the eye with seriousness. "You're a really smart kid, you know that?"

Mark rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment.

"I've been told here and there…"

Night came when Mark asked for a earlier leave then usual.

"Yeah, sure, Mark." Mr. Conner asked a little worried. "You not feeling well?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little under the weather I guess." He said, trying to look downcast. "It's not too bad, though. I'm sure I'll be up and about by the morning."

He eyed him up with worry. "Mark, if you want, I could get my Charizard to give you a life ba-"

"NO!" Mark said quickly. This has happened once before when Mark started sometime within the first week. The idea was appealing at first, the Charizard seemed to be tame enough, though the majority of the reason was that Mr. Conner kept insisting and he didn't want to hurt the old mans feelings. So reluctantly, Mark agreed. The experience was completely and utterly horrifying. Mark started screaming when everyone was almost smaller then ants. He had to keep his legs high enough on the Pokemon's sides cause if they were to low, his pant legs would catch on fire. It did once and Mark had to keep kicking his left leg with his right to put out the flames before they became to large. A Pidgeys head knocked into his and nearly made him fall off. When they both landed Mark immediately fell to the ground, curling handfuls of grass in his hands while sobbing and crying. The Charizard flew off in slight confusion while Mark promised the ground he would never be so far away from it again.

Mark cleared his throat and smiled weakly. "I mean, that won't be necessary. Besides, I brought my bike with me, and I don't wanna leave it behind."

Mr. Conner nodded but still seemed worried. "Alright, just make sure you ride safe, you hear?"

Mark smiled and nodded again then walked out. Mark grabbed his bike (it was always chained, no one in Petalburg* would steal anything) and peddled on a trail in the forest. When he was sure no one could see him, he paddled as fast as he could to get back to his current home, the moonlight making a shadow next to him. The forest was dark and eerie, with weird presence that made Marks skin tingle. Though he tried to ignore the feeling (as he does every night) and concentrate on the road ahead.

A skull with a single glowing eye suddenly appeared in front of him, making a weird ghostly sound. Mark screamed and his bike wobbled. He couldn't gather his balance so he ended up falling off his bike and sprained his ankle. His fear turned into annoyance when the Duskull (he remembered he species then) laughed at him then vanished.

"ASSHOLE!" He shouted. He tried to get up and then he winced in pain at his ankle. He decided to use the bike to balance on while limping slightly on his way home.

Far off though, deep in the forest, scarlet eyes watch with worry as Mark walks home to his cabin. Mark felt those eyes on him and he looked in that direction to only see nothing. He had felt multiple presents in this area every night on his walk home, but the presence he felt earlier… he felt that not only at night, but on his bike ride in the mornings he felt it as well. It wasn't threatening, Mark could feel that (he wasn't sure how) but it felt…

Concerned?

Yeah, concerned. He still wasn't sure why, though even so he made a little place for it to stay in his shed at night. He knew some people would find it strange, but even though he didn't know what it was, he liked its presence. He felt it was vice-versa but it could just be hope. Whatever it was he dubbed it scarlet. He could see the eyes glow in the night sometimes, it was eerie at first glance, but he didn't feel any hostile intentions in them.

He finally made it home after about thirty minutes of limping (would have been 20 if he could walk) to a lone log cabin. It was decent size with a small shed on the side of it. He set the bike against the railing of the small stairs and climbed them to the front of the door. He brought out his keys to unlock it when he noticed something wrong.

The lights inside the living room was on, making a "plus" shadow from the window.

He slowly unlocked and opened the as quietly as he could. He peered inside and his worry turned into annoyance then he saw a familiar person standing at his kitchen counter looking over HIS notebook. His half-kitchen half-living room both lit by overhead lights.

Even as he Mark closed the door behind him, not bothering to be quiet, the man in the lab coat did not notice.

Mark cleared his throat and the man in question turned to look at Mark in surprise then in embarrassment.

"Hello, Prof. Birch." Mark said, clearly annoyed.

Prof. Birch rubbed the back of his head with a nervous smile. "Good after noon, Mr. Foster."

Mark rolled his eyes as he walked over to the professor.

"First off, I told to call me Mark. Mr. Foster was my father. Secondly…" He snatched the notebook from the professor's hands. I don't appreciate you invading my privacy."

He shrugged still embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it. Curiosity gets the best of people of my profession." He brought his hands in the air. "And even then I wouldn't be the only one! Anyone would want to know what this thing can do!"

Mark tossed the notebook on his coffee table. "It's called a _Transfer Cube._" He looked back at Prof. Birch. "And Norman hasn't asked about it. And he's the one who found me first."

The professor still continued to look embarrassed.

"Anyway, why did you come here? You didn't come here just to snoop around, did you?"

"No! No, of course not! Its just that its been awhile since I came to check to see how you were doing." He looks at Mark with seriousness now. "I'm sorry I snooped in your note's-."

"Which also happens to be my journal." Mark added flatly.

"I skipped the personal parts." He assured. "But Mark… so far from what I'm seeing you don't have even the slightest clue on how you can even work this thing! Let me help! Let _us_ help!"

"You mean the other professors?"

"Yes. Especially Oak. If any one of us can figure anything about this Transfer Cube, he is the one who can do it."

"You heard my answer last time." He said with a humorless smile. "And the answer is still no. My father said I can't let anyone get to this thing, that in the wrong hands this could cause a lot of trouble. Before he sent me here."

"To our world."

A moment of silence went between the both of them.

"… Yeah." He said quietly. "To your world."

"Mark, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know." He said with a sad smile. "Its just… hard for me to realize that I am a complete and total stranger here sometimes."

"Then just don't think about it."

They both look toward the doorway to see a man with Navy-Black hair and eyes in the doorway closing the door behind him. He was smiling brightly.

"Your still welcome to go about and do what you want, just like anyone else here."

"Norman!" Mark walked over to him to shake his hand. "Long time no see!"

"Sorry I couldn't come to visit sooner. Things have been really busy with the gym."

He looked over at Prof. Birch.

He nodded. "Professor."

"Norman. How are the wife and kids?"

"Fine. May is actually visiting for awhile." He said happily.

"Really? My, I haven't seen the girl in such a long time!"

"I know! Its nice to have her home once in awhile. When she showed up at our front door, I almost got my Vigoroth to pry her from her mothers hug! Also…" He clapped Mark on the back and looked at him with a smile. "She wants to meet Mark here."

"Wait, what?" He asked completely confused.

"You remember my son Max, right?"

Indeed he did. When he first met the little dude, they immediately treated each other as big/little brothers. Mark listened to him talk about some guy named Ash. After awhile of living in Petalburg, he caught wind of the famous Ash Ketchum. Though he preferred the stories Max told about him. A good guy with a good heart. He really wanted to meet him as a person and not a celebrity.

"Of course I remember little dude!" Mark said with a grin.

"Well, he told her quite a bit about you. And she would really like to meet you in person."

Mark frowned. "Your not thinking of setting me up with your daughter, are you?"

"Maybe, maybe not." He said with a sly grin. Mark playfully shoved him away and Norman laughed. "Hey, She's 14!* There's nothing wrong with that!"

"I'm 3 years older then her!"

"So? I'm _4_ years older then my wife!"

"Yeah, but you guys are old, so it doesn't matter."

"Hey!"

They both laughed and Prof. Birch watched with amusement.

_They already seem like a family._ He thought. He looked at his watch while they laughed and looked back at them.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I should head out."

"Are you sure? I was about to make dinner…" Mark offered.

"No, that's alright. Maybe next time." He said and headed to the door. He reached for the doorknob, but stopped with his hand hovering above it.

"But remember, Mark…" The professor said turning his head to look at Mark. "That my offer is always still open."

Mark looked resigned. He knew he means well, but his father…

Mark grunted ambiguously and Birch headed out the door. He saw him summon Flygon and flew away a few moments later.

"Is he still bugging you about the cube thing?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, but you know…" Mark trailed off.

Norman looked at him with understanding.

"But, anyway," Mark said trying to brighten up. "You wanna stick around for dinner? I know I'm not the best cook, but…"

"Actually, that's one of the reasons why I came here." He said turning to the front door. He opened it a grabbed a small metal container and bought it to the kitchen counter. Mark looked at it curiously. When Norman opened the lid, the aroma that flowed into Marks nose made his stomach growl in a positive response. He looked into the container was beef stew, and to Mark, it was a gift from the great food gods.

"I brought some of the early dinner we had today. Caroline told me since I was coming over to see how you were doing anyway, I should bring you something too. Will this settle?"

"Yes, it will settle nicely into my stomach." He said drooling a little.

Norman laughed at this. "I'll tell her like the small gift. The other thing I came here for…" Mark looked at him with a arched eyebrow. "Is to invite you to our house tomorrow. Caroline and I would like your company again, and I wasn't messing with you when I said that May really wants to meet you, and Max is getting kind of lonely around the house. Max thinks of you as a big brother, you know."

Mark blushed at that. "I know, but…"

" 'but' what?"

Mark thought for a moment and then shook his head. Norman put a hand on his shoulder.

"Your afraid if you figure out how to get home, you wouldn't want any lingering attachments?"

Mark didn't look up, even when he was right on the money. Norman was a very smart man, Mark knew this, but he still couldn't bring himself to say it out loud without sounding selfish to himself. He liked the people here (hell, he _loved _it here!) but the sad fact is that he didn't belong here. Hell, there was no record of him ever existing here! If he stayed for too long and if higher-up-people here found out who knew he would probably not only get himself in trouble but possibly those around him as well. But not only that…

"Its not just that, man. What if… what if he found out about me? That I'm not from here, that I'm from another world, another dimension?"

Norman held both of Marks shoulders at arms length and looked at him dead serious in the eyes.

"He would treat you the same as you are. So would Caroline. It doesn't matter where you came from, you'll still be like family to us. Always."

Mark felt like crying, but he held it in. This man may not be his father, but he still felt like one all the same.

Norman patted him on the shoulder again before dropping his hands to his sides.

"I'm afraid I have to go now, before the rest start to worry. Just remember my offer."

They said their goodbyes and then Norman left.

Mark got down two bowls and two cups from the cupboard and grabbed two spoons from the drawer. He filled one of the cups with water and heated the metal container on the stove until it was hot. After about 5 minutes he scooped some of the beef stew into one of the bowls and shoved the spoon in with it. He grabbed both the glass and the bowl of stew and headed out the front door.

He walked over to the shed and realized he forgot to unlock it. He set the dinner on the ground gently and grabbed the key from his pocket and unlocked the shed. He turned on the light, a light bulb dimly lighting up the inside, as he grabbed the meal again then entered.

The inside of was almost average, garden tools and such, but that was all scrunched to the left side of shed. On the right side was a futon* for his mysterious scarlet eyed friend. He set the food down gently next to the futon and walked out. He didn't lock it, but he put the luck on the hook, knowing it would be locked and devoid of life in the morning like it always is. He also left the light on inside indicating his friend, who he could feel watching him right now, that there was food and that the shed is ready to sleep in again.

He went up the steps into the cabin. As soon as the door closed, he could hear the shed door open gently then close gently. Again, he was not afraid of his silent visitor. He knew it meant him no harm, and he didn't want to harm him/her either. He smiled a little when he could hear silent _tinking! _ from the shed.

He happily ate his own food in his kitchen. When he was done and put his dishes in the sink, he saw the shed lights go out.

"Goodnight." He whispered.

After he went to his room and removed everything but his boxers, he fell onto his own bed and went to sleep.

_Thanks for reading! I hope you like the story so far! I'm not sure if I'll go farther with this or not, but I like what I am doing so far. I am still somewhat knew to this site, so please be patient with me! Hope I get to making chapter 2!_

_1:One thing I think I should explain; I am not sure if the gym leader, Norman, lives in Petalburg or not, been a long time since I've seen the anime and I skimed and got bored of wiki, him and his family will live in Petalburg in this story (it will be their hometown and such)._

_2:I'm not exactly sure HOW MUCH time has passed since Ash and May parted ways, so I assume it would have been around 3 or 4 years (again, if it is wrong, just assume it is apart of the story)._

_3:A futon is a Japanese matt bed thing. Google it._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Family Meeting.

_Marks father dragged him through the hallways of the building. He didn't know what was going on, but with the alarms blaring throughout the building with people running around in a panic. Mark was taller then his father by a few inches and out weighed him by around 40 pounds (His father was a rather scrawny man, his son barely larger then him) but even then he was dragging his son like he almost weighed nothing. _

"_Dad!" Mark called, trying to be louder then the blaring alarm to be heard. His father took no notice of him. Mark jerked his arm from his fathers grasp and his father looked back at him with impatience._

"_Dad! Could you please tell me what the hell is going on!?" He shouted._

"_Something bad." He shouted with flatness in his voice._

"_Could you be a little more fucking specific!?"_

"_Watch your language!" His he demanded like a father would then turned back to being worried. "And please just follow me, Mark! Please!" He begged._

_Mark looked at his father for a moment before nodding. His father quickly started running down the hallway his son right behind him._

_His father suddenly stopped and Mark almost ran into him. His father pressed a code into a panel on the side of the door and the door opened. His father walked in with him behind him. He closed the door muffling the alarm._

"_Dad…" Mark said while his father was going to a safe behind a family portrait. His son was scared, and sweating. "Please… what is going on? I heard someone say 'military'. Are we being attacked by them? What did you guys do to piss them off?!"_

"_Son, do you know what we do here?" His father asked bluntly._

"_Mom said that you do paper work and stuff-."_

"_That's part of it. But we… made a discovery." He said pulling out a glowing blue cube from the safe. He handed it to his son to look at. It was slightly glowing different shades of blue._

"_What is this?" He asked with awe._

"_That is the result of a experiment. Its called a Transfer Cube."_

"_Transfer?" He asked curiously. _

_His father nodded. "That small thing your holding, no bigger then a softball, is one of mans greatest creations. It can take you to other worlds, Mark, other universes!"_

_Mark looked at him doubtfully at that moment._

"_I know how it sounds, Mark, but you have to believe me weather you like it or not."_

"_Wait…" Mark now appeared wary. "What do you…?"_

_The building then shook and Mark almost fell to his feet. He looked into his fathers eyes that now started to tear up. _

"_I'm so sorry Mark." He whispered, tears falling down his eyes. He pulled Mark into a surprising embrace. "I'm so, so sorry. I should have never brought you here." _

_He took the cube from Mark and then the door was being banged on._

"_Professor Foster!" A scared and fearful voice came from the door. "The shaking did something to the machine! I'm not sure what's going to happen, but it won't be good!"_

_Mark looked at the door with fear while his father prepared the cube. _

"_Mark…" Mark turned to the sound of his fathers voice and his father shoved the cube into his hands. His father was crying now. "The machine might bring down the building, but at least you can escape from here for the time being."_

_The cube began to glow to a near blinding light and Mark looked back to his father._

"_Come with me then!"_

_His father shook his head sadly. "Only one person at a time can be transferred. The cube will go along with you, so I'm afraid I cannot go with you. I'm sorry."_

_The last thing he saw and heard before the light completely engulfed him was his father, tears running down his face, smiling at him sadly saying "I love you son."_

"Dad!" He shouted to the empty room while sitting up quickly. The effects of the dream started to fade and he realized that he had shouted to an empty room. He was panting and sweating buckets. He wiped his forehead and tried to slow his panting.

"Oh my god…" He groaned out loud. He never had a dream of a memory, and he thought that if he had this one reoccurring since he got here, he would need to see a psychiatrist. A damn good one.

He decided not to ponder on it too much, and got up to take a shower. After 15 minutes he got a good look at the clock realizing that he woke up an hour and a half before the alarm went off. He frowned. The alarm usually woke him up during the dream or he woke up only a few minutes before. He frowned further in thought when he looked into the kitchen. When his nightly roommate left, he/she would always leave the dirty dishes from dinner on the window seal (he didn't lock so he/she could do so). The window was still closed devoid of anything to clean, which meant…

He put on a shirt and his pants quickly and walked outside. The early morning was chilled and the sun was barely coming up, leaving the surrounding forest still mostly dark.

His eyes widened when he heard the creek of the shed hinges.

_Still here…_ He thought surprised.

We could hear the sound of grass being walked on along with the sound of the kitchen window opening. He stepped ever so slightly forward grabbing the railing. He heard the sound of the lock clicking into place and then he saw his nightly visitor for the first time from behind.

He could now decipher that his roommate is _definitely _female, giving the curvy features. She was wearing a white dress, and had green hair and arms.

As she was walking away, mark opened and closed his mouth a few times considering if this would be a good idea. She was about to pass the line into the trees when he finally decided _YOLO._

"Hey!" He called out. The figure jumped then froze. She slowly turned back to look at Mark with those brilliant crimson eyes, slightly scared of the short black haired boy.

Mark smiled, trying to look as harmless as he can. He used his thumb to point at the inside of the cabin.

"You want to come inside for breakfast? I'm about to make some potatoes and eggs."

He walked inside and held the door open for the Pokemon slowly following behind. When the greenette walked inside the center of the living room Mark closed the door. She looked around the room taking all the imagery. There wasn't much to the half-living room, just the couch, a chair in the corner, and some paintings of mountains, forests, and of the ocean with a boat in the water.

A hand patted her shoulder making her squeak and jump, and turned her hand to the owner of the hand using her psychic powers to bring the owner of the hand in the air.

"HEY, HEY, HEY! TAKE IT EASY!" He yelled in panic kicking his legs in the air.

The greenette immediately dropped her hold on him and he fell on his butt with a pained grunt. Then inside of Marks head he loudly heard a woman saying _I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY! _and continued on like that. He felt like a megaphone was going through his brain and he clutched his head.

"STOP!" He shouted, barely able to hear himself. The voice immediately stopped and he felt instant relief.

_Sorry…_ The voice said again. He looked up at the blushing Pokemon with a smile, though it was still obvious that he was still in pain trying to show that he was fine. Then he instantly looked at the Pokemon in surprise.

"Wait… did you just… talk to me inside my head?"

She nodded slowly, still blushing. Mark thought about it and he realized he shouldn't be so surprised. It was clear that the Pokemon was a psychic type, given its abilities. Still, he doesn't exactly go out and meet Pokemon, but he isn't ignorant of his surroundings.

"Neat." He said with a smile. He got up and the Pokemon looked at him more guiltily, so much so that tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. He looked confused at this until he felt warm wetness on his upper lip. He touched his lip and brought his hand back to see blood. He apparently got a nosebleed from the yelling in his head. A lone tear went down her face. He was about to reach out and wipe away the tear but he stopped himself knowing how much more awkward that would make the situation. So he looked at her and said once again that it okay.

"It's my fault for startling you." Before she could say anything else he tried to make conversation. "What's your name?" He asked as he went to prepare breakfast.

The Pokemon was surprised by this. She slowly sat on the couch.

_I don't have a name. But your kind calls me a Gardevoir._

"No name?" He said with concern. "That's strange."

_Other Pokemon don't actually identify each other with names. Just by what our species are called._

"Seems kind of wrong though." He said shaking his head while he proceeded to cut up potatoes.

_I guess it depends on how you feel on the subject._

"I think it feels wrong."

She smiled at that. _I thank you for your concern. _

As Mark continued with preparing and cooking the food he thought about if he should do what he was about to do. Again, the decision led to _YOLO_.

"If you want…" He thought again if he should proceed and he nodded to himself to confirm this. "If you want I could give you a name." He blushed.

Gardevoir blushed as well and thought about it.

…_If you want to. It's up to you._ She sent that thought to him quietly. Though she was silently happy about the thought.

After a few moments he brought a breakfast bowl to the Pokemon and looked her in the eye with thought.

"... Scarlet." He said and she looked at him with a curious look. He nodded to himself as if to confirm this. "Scarlet. You know, like, your eyes." He said with a smile.

She grabbed the bowl and let it process through her mind before smiling.

_Scarlet… yeah, I like it. _She smiled at him. _My name is Scarlet._

While Scarlet sat down enjoying her food, Mark called the PokeMart and left a message saying that he was going to take the day off. He added that he was sorry for the sudden request and that he would be there tomorrow.

He hung up and went back to the living room where Scarlet had finished up her food. She sat there and waited. He walked over to her and caught her attention.

"I'm going to head off now. You can hang around here if you want."

_Thank you, but I should be going as well. I have some things to attend to myself._

They both went out the door and Mark locked the door behind him.

"If you want," He said. "You can sleep inside instead of the shed. It can't be all that comfortable in there. I'd feel bad if you had to sleep in there every night."

_I get a place to sleep easy every night because you're generous enough to let me stay in there at night. I don't mind sleeping in there… but I'll take you up on your offer. _

She smiled at him.

"See you tonight then?"

_Yes._

They waved each other bye and Mark went on his way. He was only vaguely aware that they slightly flirted, but he tried not to think of it that way. He looked up and saw that the sun was up now but Norman's family was probably still asleep. Norman himself would probably be up at this hour preparing the gym. Max might have gone to Pokemon Training with his Treeko, which he got a few moths before Mark showed up.

Mark was thinking when suddenly something small appeared in front of Mark's face, making a ghostly shriek. Mark screamed and fell backwards on his butt. He looked up and saw once again the same Duskull laughing at him before disappearing from sight.

Mark stood up and looked everywhere with anger.

"Are you serious?" He said out loud, clearly annoyed. "This early in the morning? Come on, man!"

He said and walked away grumpily.

He kept walking and he was surprised on how much time he killed by taking his time. The sun was bright and shining proud in the big blue sky. He saw people begin walking around the small city of Petalburg, going about their daily business.

He walked about until he saw the Petalburg Gym. He saw Norman standing out front drinking a small container of milk.

"Hey, Norman!" He called out. Norman looked over at the caller of his name and smiled.

"Mark! You decided to show up!" He walked over and hugged the boy in a quick embrace. He held him at shoulders length. "I'm glad you did! I was worried you would decline my invitation!"

"How long have you been waiting for me?"

"About an hour. I figured you'd come here first."

"What time is it?"

"10:30, maybe 11."

A LOT of time has passed for Mark. He must've been in such deep thought that he didn't notice how much time has passed. He was slowing down, paranoid about that Duskull around the trail.

"Where's everyone at? They in the gym with you?"

"They're back at the house." Norman turned Mark. "You go ahead and head over to the house and I'll catch up later. I was on my hour break out here waiting for you, but now I have trainers to attend to."

"I can wait here with you if you want."

Norman smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"No, you go on ahead! Besides, May has been waiting to meet you." He said with a nudge.

"You know," He said with a slightly annoyed tone. "Most fathers would WARN the boy walking to his daughter that if I do this and that, you would cause me physical harm, and all that, NOT encourage him."

"You're a good kid. I trust you." He said matter-of-factly. "Besides, I'm not actually trying to get you two together, and if you did I wouldn't mind," Mark rolled his eyes at that part. "But she's been pretty lonely since her and Ash Ketchum parted ways, so I think she could use a friend. I know you won't be here forever, but it would make me happy if you could be her friend, Mark. Max talks nothing but good about you, and he misses you too." He nudged him toward the direction of the house. "So go ahead and see them. I'll catch up later. I'll call Caroline and let her know your coming."

Mark didn't know how to respond to what Norman said so his only response was a smile and said; "I'll see you there!"

Norman met his smile and waved to him back going back inside the building.

Mark started walking down the roads until he appeared in front of Norman's home. He walked to the door remembering the first day he came to this house. Norman had taken in Mark, all shaken up from the experience of meeting a Gyarados for the first time. He-

Mark shook his head. He can't go down memory lane right now. He timidly knocked on the door. A moment later he heard footsteps, and then the door opened.

Before him stood a pretty brunette girl, wearing a red sleeveless shirt and tight short cut shorts. Though it was her eyes that mostly caught his attention, they were as blue as Scarlet's were crimson. Mark tried not to look at how the tight shirt showed off her good sized bust*.

"Can I help you?" She asked sweetly.

"Yes, uh, my name is Mark Foster." He smiled back and extended his hand for a handshake. "You must be May. I think your father and Max told you about-."

Before Mark could finish, she walked past his hand and pulled him into a hug that made him grunt in surprise.

"Mark! Of course I've heard of you! Max, mom, and dad told me all about you!" She said cheerfully. Mark didn't know what else to do so he hugged her back. She let go of him a second later and looked up to him with sincere joy. He blushed and smiled. He still wasn't used to people getting this close to him except his own family back in his world. He usually kept to himself when he was in school and had very few people to talk to. His brother and sister were his best and only friends. Sometimes he thinks about them here and there and misses them greatly, but he was mostly worried about his father…

May grabbed his arm and pulled inside.

"Hey, mom!" She called. "Mark is here!"

She looked back at Mark, clearly happy to meet him. "Max should be home from training soon, but until then I guess you're stuck with me and my mom!"

Mark opened his mouth to respond but that is when Caroline entered the room. She looked at Mark and immediately pulled him into an embrace just like May did.

"Mark! I'm so glad to see you again!" She held him at shoulders length and looked at him with worry. "I never see you around anymore. How have you been, dear?"

"Pretty well. The job pays well and I still have a bed to sleep on so, yeah, I've been good."

Caroline laughed and looked at him again. "You really should visit more often. We do worry about you, you know. You're like a part of the family here."

She took a step back. "I'll bring some tea and snacks. You two wait right here." She turned and walked to the kitchen. Mark took a seat on the couch near him and May sat right next to him.

"So, how do you like it here in Petalburg?" May asked.

"I think its great here. Full of nice people. Though, the ghost Pokemon that show up on my walk back home is still something I'm getting used to."

May nodded at this. "I know what you mean. Before I became a trainer I used to ride my bike all around all the time and then out of nowhere, a Duskull would scare me off my bike."

Mark briefly wondered if it was the same Duskull that harasses him is the one that messed with May all those years ago. It might be unlikely, but still…

"So, I heard that you're a pretty well known Coordinator."

She blushed at that. "W-well, not that well known. I was on T.V. a few years ago, but nothing big. Well, except the last battle with Ash."

"I hear a lot of good things about him."

"We had a lot of crazy adventures. How we first met was pretty bad. You see, it ended up destroying my bike…"

May went into great detail about some of her and Ash's adventures in the Hoenn region years ago. Mark leaned forward listening with interest at all the dangerous things they have to go through. It still greatly surprised Mark that people in this world let children start out on these adventures at the age of ten.

Ten, for god sakes.

He felt as though giving a ten year old a monster that can destroy, burn, or blast away anything with ease is just a bad idea all together. But, so far there have been no reports of kids trying to take over the world. It still kind of scared mark just how peaceful this world can be.

May kept talking even when her mother came in with the tea and snacks. Her mother sat down listening to her daughter repeat stories from years ago. Mark was still drawn by the stories, listening with respectful silence silently drinking his cup of tea.

"… then he told everyone in the audience the story Max told him about the Tentacool. I'm over it now, but back then I was nearly ready to strangle him."

Mark snickered at that. May was about ready to go on, but the sound if the door opening caught all of their attention.

There stood a tired looking kid with navy black hair and glasses. Next too Max stood an equally tired looking Treeko.

"Mom, May, I'm home." He announced and then looked to see that they were all already in the living room. He brightened up when he saw Mark sitting on the couch with a tea cake half-way in his mouth.

"Mark!"

"Suhp, 'ittle dhuh!" He said through the cake and walked over to give Max a pat on the back. He swallowed and beamed at the boy.

"How was practice, bud?"

"It was awesome! Treeko learned how to use Bullet Seed!"

The tired Treeko huffed its chest with pride before collapsing on the ground. Max brought out his PokeBall and red energy sucked the Pokemon inside.

"You go ahead and rest. You earned it." He said to the ball before putting it in his pocket.

"Oh! Mom!" He grabbed a piece of paper from his back pocket and gave it to his mother who looked at it with curiosity. "On my way home Officer Jenny gave a bunch of other kids this to give to their parents. There's going to be a temporary curfew at 8'o clock for everyone."

"Why?" Caroline said with a quick glance at the paper. "What's going on?"

What Max said next sent a cold chill up Marks spine.

"It's weird: Other trainers are starting to go missing."

_I'm sorry if this chapter kind of sucks, I was kind of out of it writing this chapter, took me all day. Thanks for reading : )_

_1:_


	3. Chapter 3

Pokemon Mark chapter 3: Petalburg Curfew.

"It's weird: Other Trainers are going missing." Max said worriedly.

Mark felt a chill go up his spine at that statement. He didn't know why, this was a serious situation, yes, but he had no idea why this felt like something much more then it seems. He didn't know why, but it just seems… off for a town like this. A quiet town where everyone knows everyone, everyone is friendly to one another, everyone helps each other.

Why the hell would something like this happen? Out of the three months Mark has lived here, nothing has near like this has happened.

"Did this happen recently?" Mark asked the young boy.

"No," He said with a frown. "Apparently this has been going on for some time, but they kept it under wraps."

"How long?"

"Officer Jenny said for about two months."

An elevator of cold went down into Marks stomach, and it hit hard. It happened a month after his appearance.

_Does this have something to do with me? _He tried to keep his expression as theirs, confused and somewhat scared.

"Has something like this happen before?" He asked Caroline.

She shook her head with a frown. "No, never. This is such a peaceful little place, I don't understand why something like this would happen."

"It's not just in Petalburg, mom." Max said pointing to a spot on the paper. "It's also happening in around places near here. Like in Oldale and Littleroot town."

"Oh my." She said putting her hand on her mouth in worry. "It says that so far fourteen people went missing."

May gently grabbed the paper from her mother and quickly looked over the paper. She gasped and pointed to a spot on the paper.

"I know him!" Mark walked over to May and looked over her shoulder. A boy no older then May was on the paper. The picture of him was smiling with bright, active eyes and a goofy grin, with spiky blond hair. The name under the picture was Andrew Garfield.

"I met him a few days before I got here! I was spending the night in Rustboro and I saw him in the same lobby as me. He challenged me to a battle when he saw Blaziken. We talked for a bit after words, h-he was going to go through the Petalburg woods. I told him he shouldn't, to wait until morning, but he said he was going to have to because he said someo-one was waiting for him and he needed to go as fast as he can."

May started to tear up a little. Mark brought his hand up to put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but his hand twitched and he put it back down. He wasn't sire if it would have been appropriate. Her mother stood up and comforted her instead.

"It's alright, sweetheart." Her mother soothed. "I'm sure that he might be in Petalburg woods somewhere. He might've taken a wrong turn or something and got sidetracked. He'll turn up soon."

May calmed down a little but Mark was still feeling a little cold. Could it be possible that maybe this Andrew guy had taken a wrong turn? Possible. But, what about the other thirteen? What had happened to them? He knew the same thing couldn't have happened to them, too many people to do the same thing. May seemed like a caring person and was probably worried about the other 13 but at least she was stuck on one for now. He could tell that Caroline, as well as Max, was worried about the other trainers.

Mark was worried too, don't get it wrong, but what was on his mind more was weather or not this was connected to him in any way.

In the woods in Petalburg elsewhere Scarlett was leaning against a tree staring at a pond ahead in thought. She couldn't stop thinking about her now official friend Mark. She knew that what he did for her, letting her stay in his shed at night, would usually be seen as someone letting in a lone pet, but she felt that how he felt about it was more like a strange friendship. Even though they had never actually communicated to one another until this morning, but for the few months he had lived in that cabin, aware that she was nearby, he treated her almost like… a friend in need.

It felt like he understood her. Like he understood the feeling of watching things from a distance. The feeling of wanting to talk and communicate with someone. The feeling of…

Feeling very alone sometimes.

Being a wild Pokemon, she just wonders around living the life she has until she is found by a trainer, or… not. Most Pokemon usually go into groups of the same species and hunt for food in packs, but Ralts, Kirlia, and Gardevoir are a rare species so they stick around with the mother and, depending on species, father until they have to basically "leave the nest." Rare Pokemon usually end up traveling alone.

She felt she could relate with Mark a little bit on that. Humans aren't rare at all in the eyes of most Pokemon, but from what she could see from Mark so far he usually keeps to himself if he possibly can. He puts up a happy front most of the time, but he seems to be really sad about something.

She usually doesn't have anything to entertain herself with, so given the fact that some strange man in the woods gives her food and a place to sleep at night, she could see what kind of person Mark was. Humans would call this "Stalking", and it felt embarrassing to realize this, but she did it all the same.

She would watch the shop from afar and see Mark talking and joking with the old man inside, but for the most part it looked like it was forced. He seemed to enjoy the old mans company, but he seemed still sad behind the smile.

The first few days she watched him back at his cabin, he sat on his couch inside his house and read books from that professor person that came by sometimes, and he would once in awhile watch the TV but after he did this and eat dinner he would go into his room and mess with a weird tiny blue box and would look constantly frustrated with it and wrote things down in a notebook he had with him. One time he got so frustrated that he chucked the cube at the wall, it made her jump, and then his eyes got wide and he literally jumped in the direction of the cube and grabbed at it like it was his lifeline. He looked at it with worry and looked relieved that it was intact then started to cry helplessly and fell to his knees in a ball.

It had hurt her heart so bad to see him like that. She desperately wanted nothing more then to comfort the human, but she knew that it wouldn't be a good idea. What he was doing with the cube looked very important and he seemed very secretive about it. So she stood there in the darkness of the forest tearing up a little herself and she held her hands over her heart. She stood there until he collected himself and turned off all the lights going to bed. She would stand there a moment longer and go back to the open shed he set up for her.

She could have looked into his mind to see why that cube bothered him, why he felt so helpless when he was alone, but she felt as though it would be wrong. It would be wrong to look inside the mind of a man put his feelings aside to do his work, make his customers happy. He is always so kind around the children. Once in awhile when some of the children couldn't pay full price for small things like comics, magazines, and candy he would pay out of pocket for them. He would always call them "Little man" or "Little girl." Sometimes "Little dude". (She still had problems on deciphering what "Dude" means)

He was a kind man that much she definitely knew, but he was also a very sad person.

She sighed and shifted her position against the tree. She wished there was something she could do for the poor soul.

May calmed down after awhile and cheered up when Mark suggested to talk more about her time on her travels. She beamed and continued to talk, Max on the other side of him, though he was only half listening. He still couldn't shake the feeling about the disappearing trainers. He tried to ignore it, try to think to himself that it's not a big deal. But the thought was like a mosquito bite, when he tried to ignore it, it itched up even worse.

So instead he mentally shoved those thoughts aside and ignored the "Itching" and listened intently to the stories that May continued to tell. She talked mostly about Ketchum. Though her reoccurring old tells gave him mixed messages about his character. She described a lot of things about him. There are so many positive and negative about him Mark is not even sure if anything balances out.

May once again continued on and stopped when the front door opened and Norman appeared.

"Hey everyone! I'm back!" He said with a smile.

"Hey dad." Max and May said in unison.

"Hope I didn't make you guys wait to long." Norman said taking a seat next to his wife. Caroline pulled Norman closer to her and cupped her hand around his ear and whispered briefly. Probably informing him not to mention anything about anyone disappearing. He looked at her with a confused look.

_I'll tell you later. _Mark saw her mouthed.

He nodded and smiled in the direction of the kids.

"Nah, everything's cool." Mark said meeting his smile.

Norman talked about how things at the Gym were, he battled a few trainers and none of them were able to get a badge. There was one person who was close, but Norman pulled through in the end.

Mark stayed around for some time, talking, eating, and laughing here and there. Mark had a legitimate good time. He had a really good time. It had been so long since he had fun that he had that day. With everything going on personally, attempting to try to figure out the cube, stress _from _attempting to figure out the cube, and such and such.

It was almost sunset when he decided to go on home.

"Are you sure you don't want to spend the night?" Caroline asked. "With how late its getting, and with… well, you know."

"Nah, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm not _too_ far away, so I'm not worried." Mark said with a grin.

"I can ride with you part way there!" May said suddenly. "I wouldn't mind. Unless, you do…?"

Mark thought about it for a moment and nodded with the same grin. "I wouldn't mind, but I walked here."

"Max has a bike outside the side of the house." Norman inquired. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if May used it, right?" Norman glanced at the boy to confirm this. The boy nodded with a smile.

"Sure, go ahead! Wish I could come with you."

"I'll see if I can come by tomorrow, how's that sound?" Mark said ruffling the boy's hair. "If that's okay with your parents. that is."

"Of course!" Carolina said putting her head on her husbands shoulder. "Come by any time."

Mark smiled sincerely. He doesn't do that too much nowadays.

"Later!" Mark called while walking through the front door, May right behind him.

"Go ahead and grab my bike, I'll go around and get Max's." May went around the house out of view while Mark just went and grabbed Ma's bike leaning on the front of the house. It looked a little small, but it would do. He put a leg over the bike while May got back into view. They then rode off down the road. Mark felt the wind blow by his face, feeling nice and cool. He had to adjust his legs a little to ride the pedals of the bike properly. The adjustment was a little uncomfortable, but nothing enough to bother him.

Mark felt that the silence was a little uncomfortable, but couldn't think of anything for conversation. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times trying to think of anything to break the ice.

May spoke up instead: "Have you ever seen a shiny Pokemon before?"

"You mean discolored Pokemon, right?"

"Yeah!"

"I Can't say that I have. What about you?"

"Uh-huh." She said and suddenly looked a little sad. "Andrew… had one. A shiny Mightyena. It had a really beautiful gold coat."

Mark looked at the girl with a sad frown.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine." Mark lied. He didn't know if the guy was or not, but he wasn't going to tell May that. She nodded and looked at the road ahead in silence for awhile.

When they were in sight of the shop that Mark worked at, Mark said that she should turn back here.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, this would be a good time to turn. The sun is set, and it's around that time that the Ghost-Type Pokemon are really active, so…"

May paled a little bit at some bad memories with Ghost-Types, and nodded instantly.

"Yeah, okay, good idea." May turned to leave and Mark realized something.

"Wait!" Mark called when May was a good distance ahead. She looked back over her shoulder.

"What about your bike!?" He pointed to the bike he was sitting on.

"Bring it back next time you come back over!" May called back.

"Alright! Be safe!"

May smiled at that. "I will!" She turned to pedal away off back into the deeper parts of town.

Mark stayed there for a moment wondering if she would be alright. She had her Pokemon on her at all times, so if trouble brews, she'll be alright.

Mark turned and pedaled down the dirt trail to his cabin.

He usually didn't back to his cabin until night came by and the moon was shining with its lunar brilliance. He wondered if the Gardevoir- Scarlet was already near the cabin. He didn't feel any gaze on the trail, so she probably won't come by until later on that night. It made him feel a little sad. Besides the professor and Norman, Scarlet was one of his first friends he made here in Petalburg, in a way. It was a somewhat of a stalker relationship, but he was grateful all the same.

How he came into contact with her in the first place was an accident. After the first three days of living in the cabin provided for him, he had taken up in writing in a journal because he heard from his father that it could help out ones frustrations. When he started, he actually found himself consumed in writing in it. He had made his dinner and walked on the porch to begin writing more. He left his bowl of food on the railing and forgot about it for awhile. When he started losing light, he walked back inside, still writing, and left the food on the railing.

When he finally put the pencil down because of hand cramps and went to eat, but realized that he left it outside. When he went though the front door he saw the bowl empty with the spoon still inside. He looked at it with interest more then annoyance. He picked up the bowl to inspect it and saw that it was completely empty, no scrapes of anything. He then realized that whatever had eaten his food was intelligent, at least to a degree. He went back inside to serve himself more from the pot and went to bed after words.

The next day he went to look for work in town, and came back later that day to make dinner and make food again. This time he prepared two bowls and put one on the porch railing and ate the second bowl inside. When he was done he went back outside and found the bowl once again empty and saw no one around. He turned to go back inside and he heard a burp not too far behind him. The burp sounded quiet and… feminine.

He turned only to hear grass and leaves shift around farther and farther away.

"A girl…?" Mark questioned aloud.

The day after that, when he got back home he prepared food again and this time had a futon under his other arm. He walked to the shed and unlocked it and set up a small living space inside.

The next day he went to check to see a dirty dish and a properly made futon. He then proceeded to do this every night since-

Mark's thoughts crashed when something hit him in the face while on the bike. He fell backwards off the bike and hit the ground with a loud thud. He groaned and slowly lifted his head up to see a small black cloaked creature he has grown to be annoyed by.

"You!" Mark growled. "What the hell do you want _now_?" He didn't bother to hide his annoyance.

As he stood up the Duskull floated and was moving about frantically, saying its name over and over, which Mark questioned since he got here. If they could say the name of their species, why the hell couldn't they fucking _talk_?

The Duskull seemed very worried and was clearly trying to tell him something. Mark just shook his head and picked up the bike and began to walk back on the trail, only to be interrupted by the Duskull floating in front of his face stopping him again. It was saying "Duskull!" over and over, appearing to be scared.

Why would a Pokemon who looks like a mini-grim-reaper be afraid?

It pointed to the direction of the cabin and shook his head.

After that the message was clear.

"… You don't want me to go back to my cabin?"

It nodded frantically, clearly relieved he understood it.

"Why?" Mark asked now interested.

The Pokemon now made its voice deeper and spread its tiny cloaked arms and floated around in a stalker like fashion.

"… Because it's haunted?" Mark now sounded annoyed again, thinking it was taking a joke to far.

It shook its head (well, body actually) and then pointed to the cabins direction again and did the slow, stalker floating again.

"Someone is over there?"

Duskull cheered in confirmation. Mark looked down in the direction of his house and thought that maybe the Pokemon probably just saw Prof. Birch and got spooked.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about." Mark said and continued to ride, ignoring the protests of the Pokemon who's voice is fading from distance. When he made it to the cabin, he saw the door was open. He gave a annoyed sigh and walked up the steps.

"Yo, professor!" He called while walking up the steps. "If your going to but in to my place, close the do-."

He stopped when he felt a sudden prick in his shoulder in the doorway. He felt something proceeding to go into his arm and was shoved in the living room area.

He looked back at the doorway with a sudden growing fear. A man in a black trench coat and a black baseball cap close the door with one hand and a syringe in the other. Mark backed away on his hands and knees while the man in the doorway looked at him with a smile that was clearly that of an insane man. His eyes were darkened from lack of sleep, adding more menace to his eyes, and his smile has filled with yellow teeth.

"Hello, there." The man said with a dangerous tone. "My name is Christopher. Your going to participate in some of my experiments. With or without your consent."


	4. Chapter 4

Pokemon Mark chapter 4: Christopher

"Hello, there." Said the man in the black trench coat and hat said with a tone of danger. "My name is Christopher. You're going to participate in my experiments. With or without you're consent."

Mark was staring at the man (Christopher) with utter fear. He looked closely at the syringe in the man's hand and his arm throbbed with a slight pain that was starting to get dull. He put the two together in that moment and his eyes became dinner plates and he quickly tried to back away in a panic filled crab walk, stumbling a few times in the process.

Christopher looked at the fear filled eyes of Mark and followed them to the needle in his arm. He grinned as if it were and joke that was told too many times.

"It's a sedative. Go ahead and fight back, you'll be out like a light in less then 15 minutes." Christopher said while walking closer to the man with clear, playful joy in the mans eye's. Christopher walked slowly closer to Mark. Mark backed up again and bumped his head into a chair.

Instinct took over and Mark grabbed the chair from behind and threw it over his head at the man and the man fell back with a meaty thud on the ground. While the man grunted in pain and agitation, Mark sprinted to his feet to his room. He slammed the door behind him and locked it. He was panting and had dinner plate eyes looking at the door.

_Escape. _The thought was quiet but enough to make him try to find a way out. He turned around and groaned in anguish when he saw that the only window in the room was boarded shut from the outside. He felt his legs go numb and he grabbed his night stand to balance him. The dizziness he felt was more then likely from the injection the man had given him. He stopped to hear his own breathing which was sounding a little far away. But then he noticed something:

All he could hear was his own breathing. He could hear nothing from the living room.

He slowly and carefully stepped toward the door and put his ear to it. He listened more closely trying to make out any sound in there. He could hear something but it was very quiet. He shut his eyes and listened as hard as he could trying to ignore the growing wooziness.

He made out the sound of suppressed panting.

Before Mark could back from away the door a spot next to his head on the door crashed out word with a loud bang. He fell on his ass and turned back to the window and tried to open it but along with the nailed bored was nailed seal. While the door was being broken apart by the madman he grabbed the clock on his nightstand and threw at the glass panel. It shattered and Mark ran shoulder first to the bored trying to knock it down.

Christopher let out an animalistic shout of rage and kicked the remains of the door down and speed walked to Mark who finally managed to knock the board down and tried to ignore the shards of glass that started to penetrate into his stomach. With the adrenaline rush mixed with the sedative, Mark didn't even feel the glass.

He was about half-way out the window in a second but the timing was unfortunate and Christopher grabbed him by the ankle, stopping him and making the glass dig deeper into his stomach and lower chest. Mark rose up trying to get out but when he raise his chest Christopher yanked Mark's leg, making him fly halfway across the room making cuts into the boys hands. Mark tried to get up but his legs fell from under him. He felt weaker and weaker by the minute. He felt his mind getting cloudy.

Christopher had that same horrific glee filled grin again and walked slowly again to Mark. He stopped when he heard a crunch under his feet. He looked down in curiosity to inspect a picture in a now broken frame. He picked it up with a curious inspection. When he looked at the picture his curious, calm and playful expression turned into one of pure and utter rage.

He stomped over to Mark and roughly picked him up by the front of his shirt and held the picture a few inches in front of his face.

"Why do you have this picture?" Christopher asked with barely suppressed rage.

Mark looked back to Christopher back to the picture and back to Christopher. He was sweating profusely and was scared, though thanks to his fading mind the fear was dissipating.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE THIS FUCKING PICTURE!?" He shouted into Marks face, completely losing whatever cool he had left. He sounded completely livid.

"It's…" Mark was starting to see black and fade out of reality, barely able to say the next few words. "It's mine. Me… and my… family." He nearly faded out at the last word.

Christopher didn't give him the chance.

He threw Mark on the floor and shrieked at the top of his lungs, his face turning an ugly dark red.

"YOU'RE FAULT!" He pointed an accusing finger at the drowsy Mark. "IT'S YOUR FUCKING FAULT, YOU BITCH!"

_He sounds like a spoiled child._ Mark thought.

The man grabbed Mark by the front of his shirt and shouted and the drug induced boy, who struggled to even keep his eyes open.

"WHERE IS IT!?" He shook Mark making sure he would be awake to answer his question. "WHERES THE FUCKING TRANSFER CUBE!?"

Mark lifted his hand, which weighed more and more by the second, flicked Christopher in his open eye. Christopher screamed and held his eye making him let go of Mark. Mark fell on the ground with a thud and flipped over, attempting to crawl to the door.

_Get… out… of… here. _He thought, struggling to hold on. _Gotta… save the cube._

Christopher regained his composer and looked at Mark with pure hate and growled like a animal stomping over to Mark. Before he could make a step, something crashed into him, making him fall to the side.

Mark fell to his side panting, knowing that it was no use: he was going more then likely die. The blur that hit Christopher rushed over to Mark's blurry vision.

"Skull! Duskull, dus!" Said the ball. It grabbed his head and tried to lift him.

"Ca… hn't mahve." Marks said, words slurring. "Go… bahck."

"DUSKULL!" Shouted the ball, trying to pull him. Mark wasn't sure, but he thought that the Pokemon was crying with its one glowing eye. Something rushed into to the side of the Pokemon, too fast and quick for Duskull to make the foot fade through. It flew into a wall and fell to the ground unmoving.

That was the last thing Mark saw before being consumed by darkness.

Off somewhere else Scarlet had taken the time to bath in a waterfall not to far away from the pond that she was at previous. There is one thing that not all trainers are actually aware off about the Gardevoir species: The clothing is removable. Scientists are still confused on how the clothing evolves with the Pokemon.

Scarlet left her gown on a rock nearly to bathe in the not too cold waters. She swam about trying to have fun too kill time while she waited for the appropriate time to come out of the water. When she saw that it was sunset she thought she should get out to dry before it became too dark. She laid down next to the gown on the rock. She put her hands behind her head and looked up at the sky, the cold air making her nipples hard and pointed to the clouds.

She wondered again how Mark is doing. He said he was going to see her tonight but she thought briefly on how he disliked the Ghost Pokemon hassling him and couldn't help but smile. She actually conversed with the Duskull once on why it messes with him.

"Because he's funny!" Said the Duskull in it's language, and giggled then faded away.

The Ghost types don't show up until sunset, but it gets even worse at night, so maybe he'll show up early. The thought made her very happy and she smiled at the sky. She looked down to examine herself. She was still damp. She would be dry in a few minutes and then she would walk over to the cabin.

_The large serpent in front of Mark froze in a giant lump of ice and slowly fell backwards in the water with a gigantic splash. _

_Mark was still crying uncontrollably but not as bad when the dangerous giant blue monster disappeared into the now smooth waters. He wondered briefly if he pissed himself or not. _

_A hand touched his shoulder and he spun around nearly hitting the navy-black haired man behind him. The man looked at him with deep worry and concern._

"_Easy there! Are you alright?" He asked in a calm manner. _

_Mark stood up and sprinted past him only to be stopped by a giant ape looking monster. It grabbed him in his large hands and Marked screamed. _

"_Slaking! Put him down! Its alright, he's just shaken up. I don't think he's dangerous."_

_The monster looked at Mark untrustingly. The man stepped forward and put a hand on the creatures arm. "It's all right." He said quietly. "Put him down."_

_The creature slowly lowered him and he plopped on the grassy ground now not struggling or yelling or screaming, but he now appeared to be broken. His eyes were red and puffy and he stared at nothing. _

_The man kneeled in front of Mark and put a hand on his shoulder. _

"_Don't worry," He soothed. "You're alright. Can you tell me your name?"_

_The boy was silent for a few moments and assumed he wouldn't answer. Then the boy finally said: "Mark." He replied weakly. "Markus Jacob Foster."_

"_Hello, Mark." He smiled at the boy. "My name is Norman." Now he looked at Mark quizzically. "Why are you out in the forest at night? You're lucky I do my own training out here or you could have been hurt."_

_Mark opened his mouth and words died in his mouth. His lips quivered and his eyes began running again. _

"_I don't know" He whispered. "I don't know why I'm here." He cried again and Norman didn't know what else to do but hold the boy. He cried into Norman's chest feeling helpless._

Mark's vision was horribly blurry when he woke up. He couldn't make out anything. And there were sounds but they all sounded far away. The only thing he could notice better then anything else was a weird tugging sensation on his chest. He tried to talk but the only thing that came out was a pitiful groan.

"Are you awake?" Asked the giant blurry figure now coming more into focus.

Mark tried to rub the sleep away from his eyes but his hands refused to move from their current position over his head. He arched his hand to try to feel his wrist to find that his arms were bound by leather. His eyes now shot completely open and blinked a few times to bring everything back into focus. He saw his captor, Christopher, standing over him tending to the spot on his chest which turned from tugging to a slight pain making Mark realize he was still partially drugged.

"Where am I?" Mark asked groggily.

"Back at my lab." He responded not even looking at Mark. Mark then noticed that Christopher was wearing a doctors gown and cap, along with the face mask. There was a snap of scissors and then Christopher set his tools down and removed his rubber gloves. He looked at Mark with apologetic eyes.

"I must apologize for my… _rude_ behavior earlier. After I realized that you were the son of Foster I guess hearing the news didn't settle with me. Just like cheese." He let out a small good humored chuckle.

Mark however was not amused.

"You broke into my house and fucking kidnapped me, you _fucking asshole_." Mark could only manage to say this in a muttered growl.

Christopher's small grin quickly turned into a frown.

"I'm sorry if you feel that way," He said his voice turning cold. "But what happened, happened. I already apologized so if you don't take it that is your problem."

He leaned closer to Mark and spoke in a whisper.

"Now I have a very important question to ask you boy. Where's the _Transfer Cube?_"

Mark felt an elevator drop 20 floors into the pit of his stomach. He recalled now that moments before he passed out he asked Mark the same question.

"… I don't know what-"

Christopher slammed his fist barely an inch away from his ear, causing Mark to jump.

"DON'T YOU LIE TO ME!" He shrieked like a spoiled child who refused to believe that Santa does not exist. "I WORKED ON THE _SCAPEGOAT_ PROJECTFOR FIVE GODDAMN YEARS WITH THAT BASTERD FOSTER! IF YOUR HERE THEN YOU MUST HAVE IT! YOU WEREN'T THERE WITH THE OTHERS!"

He then jerked away from Mark and stomped to a wall and listened for a second.

"SHUT UP!" He shouted once again at the wall. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Mark stared at him with horror filled eyes as he continued to argue with the room telling it he needs to concentrate.

_This guys bat-shit-crazy! _He thought timidly.

"I think it's broken." Mark spoke up when Christopher paused for a second. Christopher just stood there with his back facing Mark's direction. "I've been trying to make it work for the last three months and I can't get it to do shit. I think it must've fried when it took me here."

Christopher just stood there with his back still turned. Mark took this for a bad sign. A scenario played through his head where Christopher turns around with demonic rage in his eyes with a scalpel in hand and crying profanities while jumping on Mark's body, stabbing him in the throat, screaming:

"YOU BROKE IT, YOU BROKE IT, YOU BROKE IT!"

_I'm so dead. _He squeaked in his head.

Instead he turned around with not a rage filled death stare, but with suspicion.

"It can't 'Fry'." He said simply. "The cube is made with _material M. _Not only that, but the device is voice activated. Come to think of it, why are you even still in this world?"

At that moment all fear and terror were replaced with pure annoyance.

_VOICE ACTIVATED!?_ Mark thought unbelieving what he was just told. He had been trying to figure out how the hell to get that tiny blue fucking box to work for a one-forth of year, trying to find any button to press, any corner to slide, any opening to pop open and had been doing that over and over and over again, but all he had to do to activate the damn thing was to say fucking "Activate" or some _shit_?!

Christopher grabbed a spinning chair and pulled it over to sit next to Mark's head.

He just stared at Mark in silence, making Mark very uneasy.

"Are you aware of your father's profession?"

Mark gulped before answering. "You mean, like, his job, right?"

Christopher nodded.

"He…" Mark thought carefully how to answer him, scared that the man currently _not_ bounded by leather straps would decide to just kill him.

"He said that he designs builds machinery for the government or military or something. You know, like tanks and helicopters and stuff."

Christopher was silently staring at the boy again.

"Lies."

Mark was taken aback by the sheer bluntness of his captor's statement.

"W… what?"

"Your father lied to you. Then again, he did sign a contract to keep quiet about Project Scapegoat secret, but I thought that maybe he might've told his own family. But none of you probably wouldn't have even believe it…"

"What's _Project Scapegoat?_"

"It's the reason why you, me, and everyone else from the explosion is here."

"'Everyone else?'" Mark asked quickly leaning over to the man to make sure he heard right. "You mean there are others here besides us?"

"Yes. Most of us went on our own ways, such as myself." He got up and walked around the room. "I had decided to do a little discovering on my own."

He walked over to a counter with a variety of jars and went to one of the drawers to pick up a stack of papers.

"One of my original jobs before Scapegoat was a biology teacher. I found that job to be somewhat revolting, but after coming here…" He flicked through the papers. "I'm glad my father put me through those lessons. The biological structure of these 'Pokemon' are astounding!"

Mark looked over to see the maniac stare in the mans eyes again and manic glee.

"Most of their structures defy all logic! Like take for instance the 'Shedinja'…"

Mark realized that Christopher was basically giving a science lecture, but he didn't mind: whatever made him live longer. Looking at the situation, the man was probably going to kill Mark if he felt like it, or maybe to leave all evidence behind.

"…This creature," He continued. "Is _literally _a hollow shell! It was a 'possessed' creature, so it couldn't escape, but after reviewing a 'Pokedex' I found that it has an ability called 'wonder guard'. Only elements that it is weak against can do any harm to it what so ever! Do you realize how bizarre that something that specific can be apart of a creature?" Mark didn't answer. "And that isn't all. That is just one out of _hundreds_ of these magnificent creatures! There are many more that can shoot and manipulate fire, lightning, ice, rock, and can make earthquakes, rain, droughts, thunderstorms- powers that only gods can possess!" his voice was raising with every word. "And yet mankind in this world uses its powers for battles and other inane things!" His voice grew quiet. "If I could bring back my subjects to our world… we could win wars with a flick of the wrist! And with Pokeball technology- I'm still trying to figure out how it works! Turning Pokemon- and only Pokemon!- into energy to be held in that device." He looked at the ceiling with a bright look in his eyes.

"We made history with Scapegoat, but if I can return with this… I could make history. I could help mankind."

"You mean make yourself look like fucking Jesus." Mark said flatly.

Christopher's bright smile turned into a hate filled glare and he grabbed one of the scalpels off the counter and chucked it at Mark. Mark could not move in response though, being bound to a table, and the scalpel flew and cut his hand making only a small cut and then stuck out at an angle in the strap. Mark looked at it with wide eyes relieved that it didn't go completely through the leather wrist strap and only lightly pierced it.

"SHUT UP!" He screamed at Mark. He stayed silent and tried to regain his posture. "And about getting home," He said calmly. "That's where you come in."

He walked over to Mark and grinned at him with menace.

"You have two purposes to serve, and I you are going to help me fulfill them." His grin turned into a full teethed smile. "Though you already helped with one of them."

Mark looked at him with wide eyes. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Well, I had to get some subjects here and there to further study about these creatures, though I mostly get Bug type Pokemon and I needed more to work with. So, I got the idea to try to find nearby trainers and lure them here to 'help' with my research. While I worked on the monsters I still had the Trainer. So, to be sure, I decided to see if the humans here were any different from humans back home. So I took a peak inside. Now thanks to you, a subject from our world, I was able to have something to compare with."

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME!?" Mark was now getting very scared all over again.

Christopher looked at Mark's chest and stomach. "I looked at your inventory."

Mark raised his head and looked down at himself. What he saw made him throw up to the side.

A large stitched up capitol "I" covered all of Mark's torso and of course stomach. After throwing up, Mark screamed.

_Sorry if you got grossed out, but I gave fair warning in the summery. Also sorry if this chapter didn't seem all that good, I decided to pull an all nighter for certain reasons and I thought I would finish this chapter in one night. Oddly enough, I'm still only a little tired at 5:30 O.o _

_Still, hope you liked _


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Got to get away.

When Scarlet was finally dry she got her gown on she went through the forest to go over to Mark's cabin. She thought he probably won't get home early, but it wouldn't hurt to check. Ever since this morning when Mark decided to actually communicate with her instead of just helping her silently, all she could do is thing about it. Ever since she saw him cry helplessly that one night she was sad for him and wanted to help him by trying to get closer, but he made the first move, which surprised her. But now she wants to get to know him more, and she'll definitely get to do that since she was officially his roommate and will now live with him inside his cabin. It still made her happy to just think about it.

She had told Mark that morning that she had some things to attend to but in reality she just didn't want to be alone in the cabin. She would have felt awkward and a little guilty for being in there when he is not around.

He didn't actually hold any responsibility for her, so she didn't want to do anything that would make it feel as such. Though she thought that some day she'll probably get over the weird feelings of guilt and such and-

She stopped thinking when she saw the cabin. There was nothing particularly wrong with the cabin but something about it felt… off.

Like something that shouldn't have been there was there and that something that shouldn't have happened had happened.

When she saw that the front door was open she knew something was definitely wrong: Mark would _always _close and lock the door, he even did in front of her this morning. And even if he were back he wouldn't leave the door open unless he were sitting on the porch or going to the shed.

Scarlet walked up the steps slowly and noticed that the inside of the cabin was darker then usual. When she went passed the doorway she looked around in the darkness until she found a lightswitch and then flipped it. When the overhead light came on the saw why it was so dark: Someone had boarded up all the back windows from the outside.

She cautiously walked to the bedroom. When she saw that the door was completely broken she ran to the doorway her eyes proceeding to widen with shock at the inside of the room.

The room was a complete mess: shattered glass on the ground, the window was broken, a family picture along with an alarm clock were lying discarded on the ground. The window was the most noticeable so Scarlet went to examine. She leaned out the window and saw pieces of broken and splintered wood all over the ground. Someone was trying to escape. Scarlet saw the glass inside the framing of the window and felt her blood go cold when she saw blood on the jagged glass.

_OH NO! MARK! _

She turned quickly and went to grab the picture of Mark and his family and she took it out of its framing.

Another thing the Gardevoir species, as well as most psychic-types, can do: They can track people by their possessions but it has to meet within certain conditions. 1: the item has to hold endearment to the individual. 2: it has to have been in contact within a certain amount of time, the most recent in contact the better, the least is worst, and if too long it will be of no use at all. And 3: the individual has to be within a certain radius to work, if too far he/she cannot be tracked. It takes time and practice to make this ability too work properly, but if the person the psychic is looking for was its own companion, such as a trainer, this ability can get stronger and get a wider radius.

Since Mark was not actually Scarlet's Trainer and could not actually be considered a companion until just this morning her powers will be unfortunately be limited.

_Mark, PLEASE don't be too far!_ She prayed.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the picture. While her eyes were closed she saw nothing but black except when she looked down she could feel the energy from the picture. Though there was a big flash in her psychic vision causing her to yell and clutch her head. She dropped the picture and waited for the ringing in her head from the flash to subside. When she was able to regain her composure she looked at the source of the mental flash.

She closed her eyes again and this time only partly used her power to detect the source, because being completely focused on the item seemed to cause a large backlash. She felt a faint glow… from…

Under the bed.

To be more precise, under a floorboard under the bed. Instead of walking over there to retrieve it she used her power to levitate the board along with a duffle bag and…

_What is this?_ She thought wonderingly.

The item floated into the palm of her hand and she was surprised to see a simple cube. She gave it a funny look before shaking her head and putting the cube in her gown pocket.

_I'll worry about it later! First I need to find Mark!_

She bent down and gently grabbed the picture again trying to use the energies to track down Mark once again. For safety measures she put a psychic field around the cube to avoid interruption.

She slowly stood up and let the energy from the picture try to guide her. She slowly walked around the room trying to get a link. She focused harder the energy from the picture slightly intensifying. That is when a line of energy pointed to west of the area. Mark is there.

_Got it!_

She ran out the doorway but stopped herself when she saw a ball on the floor. She bent down to grab it and saw it to be the Duskull from the dirt trail.

"Gardevoir! Voir, evoir?"

Translated: "Duskull! Are you alright?"

She gently shook it trying to wake up.

"Oh dear, your mask is cracked!" She ran a finger on the line of the crack and tried to shake it awake again. "Come on, wake up!"

The Duskull's glowing eye lit up weakly. The Pokemon groaned and slowly regained consciousness and Scarlet let out a relieved sigh.

"Uhhh…" Groaned the little Pokemon.

"Are you alright, little one?" She asked softly.

"…Bad man…"

"What?"

"A bad man… took the funny man away…"

Scarlet's heart beat quickened at those words. This confirmed that Mark is _definitely _in danger.

"You wait right here and rest, okay?" Scarlet said walking to the room to put the Duskull on Mark's bed.

"You gonna get him?"

She smiled. "Yes, don't worry."

"You're gonna stop the bad man?"

Scarlet held on to her smile until she turned away from the Pokemon. Then her expression turned into an absolutely livid one, eyes glowing red in the direction of west where Mark and more then likely his captor is.

_I'm going to stop the bad man. By any means necessary._

"OH HOLY FUCKING _GOD!_" Mark screamed at the capital I that now resides on his torso.

Mark turned to Christopher all fear out of him now replaced with rage.

"YOU FUCKING CUNT! YOU WENT INSIDE ME LIKE I'M YOUR FUCKING PLAYTHING!"

"I went 'inside you' to confirm my research." He said matter-o-fact like. "You should feel lucky, the other experiments are tossed down in the basement, but if you lose your importance to me I'll throw you down with the rest of them." He finished that last sentence darkly.

Though he didn't really care that much about his threat at that moment, he was still too focused on the scar. The sick, demented, fucked up motherfucker had not only cut him open but had checked too see if everything was there.

Back in Mark's world when he started freshmen year he made friends with a semi-perky-gothic girl, Rebecca Larson, who was a senior. Even though some thought it was weird that a freshman was friends with a senior. They had hung out for awhile and talked and laughed and even went to small places like arcades and pizza places and burger restaurant. They had been best friends, until the senior graduation party.

Rebecca was able to sneak Mark into the party at some football guy's house. Since she was going to college next year, Rebecca wanted to make the most of it. A few hours later, and 22 cups of beer for Rebecca later, she slurredly asked Mark to join her to a room upstairs, unaware of intentions she had for him. But, unlike Rebecca, Mark was as sober as a bird. For hours he held the same plastic cup of beer not even taken so much as a sip, not because he thought it was wrong (He tried one of Rebecca's cigarettes once for the hell of it and nearly coughed his lungs out, Rebecca patting him on the back worried he was going to choke) but because he hated the taste of beer. Too him, it looked like it tasted- like piss.

Mark had followed her up the stairs into one of the vacant rooms and locked the door behind her. Mark asked her what she wanted and she pulled him into a kiss that tasted like piss. When he got a better whiff he thought she didn't smell like bar but rather the embodiment of alcohol. Mark tried to push her away but she pulled him into the bed with her and she proceeded to grab his crotch giving him an uncomfortable erection. Mark tried to get her off but then she punched him into face and proceeded to sexually assault him. Mark didn't know how to react to that so just froze while she did her thing.

Long story short, Mark lost his virginity at the age of 15. Side note, the experience wasn't pleasant.

When Rebecca woke up with a hangover at 5 a.m. with the sun barely rising as she awoke naked to her best friend who was vice-versa. She saw his black eye and was instantly worried about him.

His response was simply: "I need a ride home."

They both quietly got dressed and went out to her car. The trip was also silent except for the quiet _I'm sorry_ from Rebecca. When they got to Mark's house he said to her without looking "Have fun at Harvard." And with that he walked up the walkway to his door and, beside the two to three month letters the both receive from each other, they pretty much stopped hanging out.

What happened to him that night two years ago is like a flea bite compared to the current events at psycho's doctors office. He had been basically raped by one of his best friends but… but…

The psychotic fucker was _inside _him. He _violated _his insides. He violated the inside of a seventeen year old boy.

Mark silently vowed that if he lived through this and made it back to his world that he would write Rebecca more often and apologize for being a bitch about that night.

Currently though Mark was in a rage.

"What the hell do you want from _me_?" He growled at the doctor. "If you want the fucking Transfer Cube, go find it you goddamn self, you already stuck you're sick hands inside of me, I'm not gonna be your _bitch_ and track shit down for your sorry ass."

Christopher's eye twitched at his statement and he leaned over him, looking him in the eye with no expression but with fiery eyes.

"You _are_ and you _will_. You WILL get me the cube, weather you want to or not."

Mark brought his face as close to Christopher's as he could.

"Fuck. You. ASSHOLE." He whispered. He was more then likely going to get killed if he gets Christopher-the-psycho's hands on the cube, so he had nothing left to lose.

Christopher's face contorted and next thing Mark knew he was seeing nothing but white and then his jaw felt like it was made of pain. Mark blinked and could taste copper. When the moment of shock past his jaw _and_ his tongue hurt like hell, the uppercut making a horrible tongue bite.

"You'll tell me where it is." Christopher promised quietly. "All I got to do is get the answer out of you."

With that Christopher walked out the door and his foot steps faded away. Mark now snapped his head in every direction trying to think of something that could get him off of the table, _anything._ Sadly he saw nothing and instead tried attempting to break out by sheer strength. A failed attempt as well.

Mark groaned and flapped his hands trying to see if he could slide out. A failed attempt once again but this time he felt his right hand smack into something. Mark looked over to his right hand and saw a sign that god may indeed exist, the scalpel that Christopher threw at him earlier. It was sticking at a perfect angle for Mark to grab.

Instinctively he angled his hand to grab freedom but when he moved to fast and too sudden the scalpel tilted to the right and Mark immediately stopped. The only part of the tool that was making it stick was the tip, and it was now tilting life threateningly to the right where it could fall to the ground and Mark would lose his only means of escape. Mark turned his head back to the doorway that Christopher walked through to get god knows what.

Silence.

Mark went back to his right hand and tried to balance it to keep the scalpel from falling over. Ever so gently, Mark used his thumb and pinky to try to grab the tool. It tilted to the right a few times and it made Mark sweat.

After a few moments Mark had the scalpel in his fingers… then it slipped out of his hand. In that one second Mark outstretched his hand as far as it would let him and by pure luck the scalpel balanced on the tip of his middle finger. Mark was trying to keep it from tilting to either side, heard hammering like a jackhammer.

When the tool was dead flat Mark slowly lifted his finger…

The scalpel had fallen dead center in the palm of his hand. Mark smiled fiercely holding the urge to cry out in victory. Mark angled the blade to cut the wrist bands, having a hard time cutting the old leather. He kept an ear out trying to make sure Christopher doesn't catch Mark trying to cut his way out.

Scarlet was flying through the forest as fast as her powers would let her. She kept turning and spinning avoiding tree left and right and up. Her crimson eyes were glowing blood red and had a look utter concentration on her face. All she cared about was getting to Mark.

_I'm coming! Just hold!_

She increased her speed following the energy trail.

Mark was now cutting furiously accidently nicking his wrist here and there. He was afraid that Christopher would show up any second and use his 'methods' to get Mark to talk.

_Comeoncomeoncomeon! _He thought, panic running through his mind. _Come on! Please! Go through!_

He cut even faster struggling to get free.

The scalpel slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground with an audible ting going throughout the silent room. Mark's eyes became as wide as they possibly got his heart skipped a beat and his balls shrunk up. He was home free.

He was home fucking free.

Mark, furious with himself, slammed his balled fist on the table next to his hip.

_How the fuck could I _DO_ THAT!? _Mark face palmed himself. _I was to be home free! Goddamn it!-_

Mark stopped for a second and looked at his hand, in front of his face, and back to the upper right corner of the table, where a broken strap lay. Hand to strap, hand to strap. Without realizing right away he had weaken the strap enough to break it with the flick of the wrist.

Home free, indeed.

He let out a nervous, joyous chuckle looking at his free hand. He undid the left strap and was undoing his ankles when he heard faint footsteps approaching. Mark went faster at undoing his ankle straps like a mad man. He undid one leg while the steps were getting closer.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

When the last strap was undone Mark got off and hid behind the table grabbing the fallen scalpel with his right hand clutching so tight his knuckles turned white.

He heard the footsteps stop at the door way and then silence for a few moments.

"NO!" stomping followed to the other side of the room and that is when Christopher came into view with a car battery strapped on a platform on his stomach with two jumper cables with a custom made dial on top.

Mark slowly stood up walking ever so silently behind the large psycho. With all force he had he brought the knife back and was about to stab him in the spine in the back of the neck. He didn't know too much about areas of spines and what area does what when you stab it, but he hoped wherever it was it was where he was aiming. Then he brought the knife forward to the back of the neck.

…Only for Christopher to turn at the last second to get his throat slit. With the angle of the scalpel and that exact moment of turning had slit both of Christopher's jugular veins.

Hot blood sprayed the front of Marks stitched chest and a little bit on his face but most of it hit the floor at their feet. Christopher didn't even realize what had happened to him until he saw the utter shock on Marks face and the blood on marks face and chest. He looked down at their feet like Mark did and saw the large amount of blood on the ground and the battery. When more blood fell on the ground from his now very hot neck the news hit him like a freight train:

Mark slit his throat. Christopher became wide eyed and the voices in his head were yelling at him to do something but Christopher backed away, knife pulling out with causing more blood to spill, he backed away staring at Mark with disbelief.

Mark didn't believe what he was seeing either and he looked back between the dying man in front of him to the bloodied weapon and tried to process what was going on.

_You murdered him. _A dark voice said in the back of his mind.

"No…" he whispered aloud. His hand went numb and he dropped the weapon watching the man ahead of him clutching his throat and staring at Mark with a mixture of emotions.

"No…" This couldn't be happening. "No…" He couldn't have killed anyone. "NO…" This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. "NO!..." He was going to paralyze him. "NO!" He had no intention of killing a man. "NO!" He just wanted him to…

"NO!" He shouted and clutched his head staring at the man who was fighting less and less with himself.

He stepped backwards shouting "NO!" over and over again. When he bumped into something he turned around quickly screaming.

_I'm sorry… _A female voice said in his head. _I tried to get here as fast as I could…_

He looked at the person in front of him with pale-white skin and green hair with the beautiful crimson eyes which were full of tears.

"Scarlet…" He whispered barely audible. "I didn't mean to. I didn't. I swear to god I didn't."

Mark went to turn around but Scarlet grabbed his shoulders and made him face her and her alone.

_Don't look! Don't look back! _She pulled him into a hug and put his face in her shoulder covering his eyes and closed one of his ears with her hand and closed the other with her neck. She held him to her for dear life.

"I didn't mean to." He said muffled by her shoulder.

_I know you didn't. _Christopher stopped fighting back and stopped moving, eyes glazing over as he fell into a well of darkness.

_It's not your fault, Mark. _She soothed rubbing the back of his head with her free hand. _You didn't have a choice. It's not your fault. _

She leaded him out of the doorway to leave the building.

_Let's go home…_

_OKAY, I kind of feel like I went to far with this, but I still did it. And a heads up to those who didn't find this chapter good for your stomachs I won't be doing any bloody chapters for awhile… I think. At least I don't have anything like it in mind for the next few chapters. Next time I will give a heads-up at the beginning of the story. Anyway hope you like, I've written and posted two chapters within one day (Hazzuh) and the next chapter will come up when it does due to some serious stuff over on my end, but I'll try to make more as soon as I can. PEACE OUT._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Scarred.

"Yesterday a series of disappearances were found to have actually have been a series of murders here in the Hoenn region in the Petalburg forest."

Only a day had past since the whole Christopher incident, or as the news calls it "Murders from the unknown man" and now Mark sat in his hospital bed with Norman and the professor stood at his left side while Scarlet sat in a chair at his right watching the news from a elevated TV.

"Though the murderer has been found, dead, the identity of his body is unknown. There is nothing connecting him to anything, not even a birth certificate is found. On another note, trainers in the Hoenn region are now relieved that the murderer is gone, but most of them are seriously considering about retiring. Most of the trainers refuse to even leave their house but they may have good reason. A man, who has asked to keep his name hidden from the press, was a lucky survivor of the massacre-"

Mark grabbed the remote from the small nightstand and turned off the television. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. When he and Scarlet walked out of there he immediately called the authorities on a pay phone and explained the situation. In a few minutes police bikes with an Officer Jenny in the lead road passed them with an ambulance slowing down to take Mark in. Thanks to the fake birth certificate and a few uploads to the main identity system, Mark was not suspected of anything, but what he did to Christopher…

He killed a man. He _fucking_ killed a man. He hated Christopher, that son of a bitch, for what he did to him, playing "Operation" with his insides, but Mark didn't want to kill him. As much as he hated to say after what happened he didn't have the heart to kill someone.

"Mark...:" Norman said after a long silence. He meant to say more but found no words. After what he heard Mark killed a man he was very worried about him. Norman was surprised he did that, but it was in self-defense so Norman knew that it was for survival, no malicious intent. But just looking at Mark he could tell that this would weigh on his mind for years to come.

Norman tried to tell him that but the professor put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

_Best you don't say anything._ Prof. Birch's eyes said. Norman nodded and looked back to Mark staring at his blanket with haunted eyes. Then he looked at the worried looking Gardevoir. He still didn't know where she (possibly "he", given how their species worked) but he thought it would be better to ask later. But he was glad he would have a companion when they would have to leave. They seemed to know each other enough.

"The authorities found all of the missing people in his basement." Prof. Birch piped up. "There were only three survivors, but there alive thanks to you."

Mark just sat there in silence.

"There also would have been more casualties if it weren't for you either." Norman sighed at Prof. Birch's comment.

"Because he's dead." Mark said flatly.

Birch frowned for a moment then realized what he said.

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"Is there another way you could have meant it?" Mark said turning to the professor. His voice and expression weren't angry but he sounded tired and had that haunted look still in his eyes.

"Mark, that's enough." Norman said. "The professor didn't mean to make you more upset then you already are, were just concerned for you."

Mark once again didn't reply. He went back to staring at his covered legs then to his chest. He was wearing a hospital gown but he knew that the scar would never leave there, a constant reminder of that day. He clutched the front of his shirt weakly.

"It's about time for us to go. We'll come by tomorrow to see how your doing."

Mark nodded absently and they both went to walk out. Norman waved Scarlet a bye and she met with his with a small smile.

As soon as the door closed she grabbed Mark's hand with hers.

_Mark…_

He gripped her hand a little harder.

"I'm sorry." He said turning his face to look at hers. "I… I-"

_You have nothing to apologize to me for. _She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb. _The professor was right. It would have been more dangerous if he was still running about._

"That's why I aimed for his spine. I wanted to paralyze him."

_He may have done something even in a state like that, you never know._

"It's not about that, though." Tears started to fall down his face. "I _killed _someone. Weather my reasons are justified or not, that's not something you can just blow off and go on the rest of your life with." He sniffed trying to keep himself from completely sobbing. "You know the saying about weights on minds and all that? I understand how that feels now. It literally feels like my mind had a 20 pound weight on it, a whole lot of pressure going through my skull."

Scarlet surprised Mark into grunting while she pulled him into an embrace. She leaned over and leaned her chin on his shoulder and held him warmly and spoke softly into his mind.

_Believe me when I tell you I know how you feel. _She leaned the side of her head on his and Mark blushed slightly realizing how intimate the moment was feeling. _What you did will lay on your mind for a long time, that's a given, but you need to try to move on, if you don't it will just continue to haunt you day after day after day. _

She pulled away from Mark but held his shoulders and stared into his eyes with her beautiful crimson ones and cupped one of his cheeks in one of her hands causing him to blush further but listened to her intently.

_You just got to try to forget about the past or it will follow you. _She hugged him again and this time he hugged her back. He held her tighter and she did the same. When he felt a weird poking sensation in his side he slowly pushed her away. She looked at him with confusion and when she followed his gaze she blushed for a few seconds thinking he was staring at her chest causing her a momentary blush but she then saw the bulge in her pocket.

She put her hand in her pocket and brought out a cube. It took Mark a second to process what it was she was holding and when he did his eyes widened. Instead of being angry though, he was just shocked.

"Where did you get that?" He asked quickly. She looked at him then the cube then back at him.

_When I went to track you this thing… interrupted me._

"Interrupted how?"

She stopped to think for a few seconds.

_When I tried to find your presence this thing… "Blind- sided me". I think that term suits it. It completely blinded my powers for a few moments._

She handed him the cube and he looked at it with new found interest. "That's weird." He muttered quietly.

_Mark. _

He turned his head to look at her. Her expression was serious.

_What exactly _is _that thing? _

He looked at the cube and tried to think of a way around explaining. But then he looked back to Scarlet and saw her serious and worried expression. He looked back at the cube and thought briefly of his father. He remembered what Christoph-

What _the man_ said and what he heard about his father. His father had lied to him and his family. He told them bullshit and said it was military crap. Hell, does the military or the government even know what his father and everyone else in that building were even doing? Christopher may have said something about a government but would he even know that? If his dad was the head macho-man of the project, how much would he have kept from his workers?

_Mark?_

He sighed and looked into her eyes.

"Is there anyone within ear shot?"

_No._

"Scarlet, what I am about to tell you… you can't tell another living soul."

_Of course. _

"You may want to sit down."

8888

Somewhere else a man turned off his TV after watching the news. So, Christopher went bat-shit-crazy and gutted up a bunch of kiddies. He wasn't all that surprised though, given the fact of how they got there in the first place. When the machine broke down and the explosion went off those within close range got teleported into one of the dimensions they got to explore so far. Christopher was already schizophrenic to begin with but teleporting without a Transfer Cube can cause serious… side effects. Like boosting schizophrenia.

Either way, Christopher ended up in world 2 with them. 3 different dimensions discovered, 3 different dimensions that the explosion scattered random number of people, and he happened to get the crazy man to be in the same world with him.

But that doesn't matter now, the fucker's dead. But, he had to give the kid, whatever his/her name is, they had some balls. Out of everyone he has met so far, they were _way_ too nice. It's not bad to see people with manners sometimes, but this was a little too much.

But, that aside, Christopher was a man to record his discoveries or any information that he thought interesting. With all these Pokemon walking around, it was bound to happen. If Christopher were to write anything about Scapegoat that could cause some serious trouble. But knowing Christopher any information he collected he would be hidden somewhere. All he had to do was wait until the place was empty and find his shit.

8888

"… And then Norman took me in for a few days until I got that cabin in the woods. Been here ever since." Mark concluded and looked at Scarlet to see if she believed him. she just looked at him with wide eyes and her mouth slightly ajar.

"Scarlet? Hello?" He waved her hands in front of her face trying to get her attention. "Earth to Scarlet? Or whatever you call your planet here."

_Sorry it's just a little hard to take in all at once. _She was still frozen and her mental reply was a little quiet.

"I probably should have explained it a little slower in pace."

Silence filled the air.

_Are their… Pokemon in your world as well?_

"Nah, just animals."

_I see._

More silence.

_Mind if I go for a walk?_

"Up to you." Mark said with a smile. She nodded and floated out the window. Mark blinked for a second forgetting for a moment that she was actually a psychic Pokemon.

Mark laid back into his pillow and stared at the sealing. He wondered if Scarlet would even come back after everything he told her. But for some reason he felt very tired and wasn't all that concerned. After a few moments he fell into a dreamless sleep.

8888

Scarlet gently floated to the ground and walked to a nearby forest to clear her head. She shouldn't be all that surprised given Marks unusual nature (He treated her more like a human) but it was still a big shock. But that would also explain his depression and his hidden sadness.

_He must have felt so alone…_

She gripped the front of her gown in the heart area. The way he got furious with the cube that one day, the way he balled and sobbed when he picked up the cube. Now she understood why he cried:

Because he felt there was no hope of ever coming home.

_Mark…_

8888

Mark awoke in the middle of the night about to scream before clamping his hand over his mouth. When he looked around to see only darkness he physically calmed down. He held his sweat covered head in his hand gasping in relief. He had a nightmare about earlier that day. All the events occurred the same but at the end when he shoved the knife into Christopher's throat he looked at the knife and pointed an accusing finger at Mark while bleeding through his neck.

_Murderer! _He gurgled. He walked slowly toward the backing away Mark. He didn't have the same look of fear before dying but instead looked at Mark with anger.

_MURDERER! _He wrapped his hands around Marks neck and was choking the life out of him. Mark didn't even bother to fight back. He was too scared too. Just as life was about to fade out of him he woke up.

When Mark calmed down he laid his head on his pillow staring at the ceiling in the darkened room. It was so late in the night that Mark assumed that Scarlet must have abandoned him. He wasn't surprised though. He was an outsider in this world.

When a sound came from the window his head shot into that direction.

"Scarlet?"

He saw nothing. He frowned and his shoulders sagged. When he turned his head forward he screamed and stopped as soon as he did at the site of the Duskull with a cracked skull.

He took a moment to calm himself before he brought a fake smile to his face to the Duskull.

"Isn't it a little late at night to sneak up on people like that?"

Silence from the Pokemon.

"What's up with you? Ca-" He stopped to correct himself. "Meowth got your tongue?"

Silence.

"Seriously, what's wrong-"

Air knocked out of him when the Duskull rammed itself into his chest. He felt tiny arms try go around him but didn't understand what it was trying to do.

"What are you…?" When he felt the little thing trembling against him he instinctively wrapped his arms around the gray ball creature. When he did that it trembled more and he felt his hospital gown get wet.

After how this thing tried to warn him and protect him he new now that it was really worried about him.

"I'm okay." He soothed rubbing the back of the Pokemon's head. "Thank you." He held it closer to him crying a little himself. "Thank you for trying to save my life."

They held each other, crying, until they both fell asleep.

8888

Mark's eyes fluttered open to the sunlight coming through the windows of the hospital room. He looked around trying to wake himself up. When he sat up he saw the Duskull from last night next to him at his side still sleeping. He looked around to see if Scarlet was in the room and a quick look to the left and right showed no sign of her. He sighed and leaned back looking depressed but not surprised. With everything he told her it was bound to happen. He-

His thoughts broke when his door opened and said Pokemon came in with a tray of food. She looked over to Mark and smiled.

_Good morning._

He looked at her confused as she walked over to him and placed the breakfast tray on his legs.

_Here's breakfast. I had some trouble getting it myself, but I managed to get a tray for you. _

He still looked at her confusedly. When she saw that he was staring at her she retuned the confused look.

_What's the matter?_

"Your still here." He said with an unbelieving tone. "Even after everything I told you."

She arched an eyebrow. _Is that a problem?_

Mark's mouth hung open for a second trying to find words to speak but nothing came through. When he thought he had something he made a quick _uh_ sound but that dies away too.

Scarlet looked at Mark in the eyes with her arms crossed.

_Mark, you know remember yesterday when you told me that I could live with you?_

Absently Mark shook his head.

_When you made that offer what did you make it as? As a human between a Pokemon or a friend between a friend?_

Mark thought about it for a moment. It all went back to his friend from a distance thought.

"As a friend." He stated. Scarlet nodded.

_Then why would I leave you? _Mark stared. _Yes, your… not from here, but so what? Your still the Mark I saw from day one. Just because you're not from around here doesn't mean I'll see you any differently then I do now. _

Scarlet's expression turned into a sad one. _Mark, if I'm going to be your friend your going to have to trust me a little more. You may not completely know me, but you should know me enough to know I wouldn't turn my back on you._

Mark was at a loss of words. He didn't know weather to apologize or cry.

Scarlet went back to smiling her little smile.

_And with that…_ Scarlet lifted one of her fingers and Mark's mouth flew open and a piece of bacon flew into his mouth and his mouth closed itself. _Finish your breakfast. When you done, and when you get dressed, we can go home. _She pointed to the Duskull at his side to indicate it too. Mark didn't know what to say so he just chewed his food with a small smile. Scarlet returned the smile and sat in the chair next to him waiting for him so they could go back to _their _cabin.

…

_I'm sorry it took so long to update but I have some personal problems happening to me on my end so I haven't had too much time to do this, and it also took a little longer because I am writing this over a friends computer who is kind enough to lend me his computer when it is not in use. Also, a third reason why this took so long to write is because my current interest in Pokemon is not as good as it was when I started. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop writing this, its just it might not be as I want to write it. I got the idea to write this because my friend wanted to borrow my old game boy color games and I happen to have all three of the original games (Red, Blue, and Yellow). I know how to work Yellow like the back of my hand so I've been helping him with it. And after that I've been looking up stuff on stuff from generations 1-3 and I got an idea to write this. But I don't want to leave this story alone just because I'm bored with it, that's just a dick move, but I won't update as often. If any of you know any Pokemon related stuff/thing/stories that would catch my interest, go ahead and PM me about it to see if it will Pokemon back on my mind so I can get back into my goove._

_Yours truly, Tutyrus._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: A week later.

A week has passed since the incident with Christopher. Though the burden of blood on his hands will be with him for the rest of his life, he is still tying to get over that fact. He still has been having nightmares, and sometimes becomes very haunted looking he has been getting past it little by little with the help of Scarlet and Grim (The Duskull who he thought should have a fitting name). Now that Grim was not waiting for Mark anymore in the woods to scare the living shit out of him, Grim was a new addition to the small, if you will, family…

Who would still scare the shit out of Mark from time to time.

He had been really grateful that Scarlet had moved in with him. She has been a wonder to have around. Mark couldn't put it into words but she just felt good to have around. The way she talked to him, the way she smiled, the way she was so friendly… Mark was really happy.

Scarlet didn't really talk much about herself but she was really intent on hearing about Marks past, though he didn't fell too comfortable about talking about himself either. Mark told her that his past isn't exactly peaches and cream. She nodded a little sad look on her face sending needles into Marks heart, so he shrugged and told her about some of his recent memories that came up: Rebecca.

Ever since the Christopher incident he had had her on the mind, memories of old times. Mark told Scarlet some if the things him and Rebecca had done in the past, the good times when they just hanged out. He smiled a little at the memories of the fun times that they had before the incident, which Mark surprised himself by telling Scarlet. She responded to this with wide eyes (and Mark thought he saw anger in those eyes).

_Were you and her a couple?_ Scarlet had asked immediately when he finished.

Mark shook his head. "Nah, we were just friends. That night was… it was just a mistake."

Scarlet frowned at his words, but was mentally happy that they weren't a couple.

But Mark and Scarlet were slowly getting to know each other more, and Grim looked at this with some happiness.

…

Mark woke up screaming in the middle of the night again after having another nightmare about the incident. When he had nightmares about Christopher he would wake up gasping in a cold sweat but this one scared him more then the others s of yet. Christopher was doing surgery on him while conscious and Mark couldn't even scream. But Christopher just stood there with the tools but it was like he was a Weeping Angel only making movements whenever he blinked. At the last moment, Christopher grabbed him by the throat with bloody eye sockets and a slit throat while he yelled incoherent Jibberish in Marks face, causing him to wake up screaming. Mark gasped, his bed covered in sweat while he gasped trying to remember that it was just a dream.

Mark screamed again when his bedroom door smashed open with a very protective and angry Scarlet looking about the room with bloody murder, and aura surrounding her with her eyes glowing a menacing red.

_WHERE IS HE!? _She mentally shouted making Marks ears ring. _WHERES THE INTRUDER!?_

Mark thought she looked like a terminator from that movie series.

"SCARLET!" He yelled frantically. "It's just me and only me! _Calm_ down!"

Scarlet another looked around the room and sighed in relief when no one was in there except for themselves. Scarlet looked over to Mark with a worried expression.

_What happened Mark? When I woke up from you screaming I thought I was about to have a heart attack!_

Mark had a hard time believing that, given the fact that he wasn't sure if his heart even restarted back up yet. Mark This time got a good look at her and blushed a little. Scarlet's gown was in the pile to wash that day so Mark had to give her something to wear until the next day so he gave her his only shirt from his world, his Pink Floyed shirt. Since Scarlet was only slightly shorter then him, she didn't reveal much, but with the moonlight coming from the repaired windows it caused her revealed thighs to shine in the moonlight, causing Mark to turn away, his face red.

"I-I-I had a nightmare." He stuttered. "S-s-sorry I woke you and Grim up."

She walked over and sat at the edge of his bed. _Grim is still asleep, even through that strange enough, but you don't have to apologize. What happened in your nightmare that caused you to scream like that?_

"A Christopher nightmare." He whispered.

Scarlet's eyes widened at this and she scooted closer to him and put a hand on his.

_Just let it go Mark. That's all it can ever be anymore, a nightmare, a dream. He can't come and hurt you anymore. _

Mark took his hand back in embarrassment and shrugged. It's not exactly something you can drop easily.

Scarlet just looked at him a moment longer before giving a shrug of her own at her own decision she just made. She crawled into the blankets with him and she pulled him into a hug. Mark grunted in surprise as this happened in only a few moments. Mark tried to ask what she was doing but she sent her mental message to him before his words could escape from his lips.

_My mother would do this for me whenever I had a bad dream she would hold me like this until I fell back to sleep again. _

She said holding him tighter. Mark never noticed how warm she was until now. She had held him a few times before, but given the circumstances back then, he didn't really pay attention to anything like that before.

Even through the shirt he felt her soft mounds and triangle protrusion press against hi chest causing him to blush a little. But he once again thought of how nice it was to have another warm body holding his. He paced his arm around her back and started to drift back into sleep with both of them in each others arms.

_Feel better? _She asked her mind sounding like she was near sleep herself.

Mark nodded before drifting back into a more gentle darkness.

…

The man who watched the news walked around in the night in Petalburg forest, flashlight in hand. After a week has passed he thought it might have cooled off enough for him to see if Christopher had left anything behind in his fucked up laboratory. When he made it to the building the first thing he noticed was the police tape with Pokeballs.

_Of course. _

He lifted the tape out of the way and went further to the building. He walked around inside with ease and looked around. He passed by everything trying to find his "operating room". The building wasn't that big in size so he would probably leave anything he deemed important near his work space. He did the same thing back in their world. Years before project Scapegoat he and Christopher used to be college roommates. Christopher would leave some of his weird "discoveries" written down on paper and hide it in a panel in the roof of their room. This was before Christopher took his medication on a daily basis.

The man walked in the room where the kid from the news was dissected. The man walked over to the one of the cupboards and looked inside. Everything was taken out for evidence but if the man looked right…

"Let's see…" He muttered aloud moving his hand around. "What was it he used to say? 'To the right was always the right was always the right answer'. God, he was such a crazy fucker…"

The man felt a board go loose and he moved it out of the cupboard. He went back inside and- Eureka! The papers were still here!

The man sat down on the operating table and flipped through the papers. He kept reading names and skimming through reports. He frowned a little with a weird look in his eyes.

"God, Christopher…" He whispered sadly. "The trip here really fucked you up in the head, didn't it?"

He kept looking through the papers and he stopped a little and flipped back a few pages thinking he saw a very familiar name.

_No, it can't be. He wasn't even near the explosion!_ He thought. But then again, knowing his father, he would have done anything to protect him…

He went wide eyed when he saw that the name was indeed there: Mark Foster.

"So he sent his kid here… makes sense I guess." He flipped the folder closed. The other files of this kids he played operation with had time of deaths in here. Mark was some of the handful in here that didn't have one. He flipped the folder closed with a snap. He would have to do some looking around in Petalburg in the morning.

…

Mark awoke to the blaring noise of the alarm clock by his nightstand. He slammed his hand on the clocks snooze button. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Mr. Conner gave him a month paid vacation, but Mark thought he would surprised him by showing up at work. Mark thought that maybe a week was good enough. The scar on his chest was healing up nicely so he thought this would be the best decision. He hopped out of bed, then remembered what happened last night and blushed. He looked back at the bed his face red. Scarlet wasn't there which made Mark confused. He walked to the direction of the bathroom wondering where she could have gone.

He opened the bathroom door and was about to walk in before he looked inside.

Scarlet was just coming out of the shower soaking wet. With the illumination of the bathroom light, everything about her shined. Marks nostrils gushed blood when he saw her exposed breasts, her nipples a nice shade of pink that caused Marks nether regions to get hard slightly. His eyes also caught a glimpse of her smooth, milky white legs.

_Good morning. _She said simply in his head.

Marks scream was loud enough to make some nearby Pigeys and Tailows fly away.

…

"First off, I want to apologize again for walking in on you in the shower. I should have knocked before coming in, so it's my bad." He said to Scarlet, who was now in a towel, from her seat on the couch while Mark stood at the other side of the coffee table across from her.

"Secondly," He continued. "I have to ask, why didn't you react badly when I walked in on you?"

_What do you mean? _She asked with a confused expression.

Mark just gawked at her. "I walked in on you on a… private moment. I woud understand if you were a little angry at me."

Scarlet looked at him a little surprised. _Mark, I wouldn't get mad at you for something as little as that!_

She stood up and looked down at herself. _I don't care if you see me without clothing. It's not something new to the rest of my kind out there in the forest. _

Mark's jaw dropped. _She wouldn't care…_

Dirty thoughts went through his head and he forced himself to block those thoughts out by shaking his head violently.

"Anyway, I need to go to work!" He said quickly walking to the door.

Scarlet was quickly alarmed by this. _Wait, wait, wait!_

He stopped at the door and started to talk before she did. "Look, I know I was told to wait a month, but I've been doing nothing but sit around for the last week."

_That's the point! _She walked to him and held both of his shoulders. _Mark, after everything that happened, you need a nice long rest. You shouldn't strain yourself. _She placed a hand on his chest with concern.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly with a smile on his face.

"You don't have to worry." He said soothingly. He looked down at his own scar, some of the stitches clipped off in healed places. "It's not as bad as it looks. It doesn't hurt as much as it did the first few days, and I need to start walking around and get stuff going again or else I'll basically just be a big lump on the bed and couch."

She didn't look too convinced. Mark pulled her into a quick hug to comfort her.

"Look, how about this? Mr. Conner doesn't even know I'm going over there. I'll be at work for a couple of hours, Mr. Conner would probably tell me to go home by then anyway, and I'll be right back here to rest up, Ok?"

Scarlet didn't say anything for a few moments but nodded against his chest.

_Ok. Just make sure to come back soon, and I'll have something made up to eat when you get back, alright?_

Mark taught her a little bit about cooking. "I will alright? Just chill."

She backed away from him with a smile on her face. _I'll get my gown and get ready for the day._ With that, she dropped her towel and turned away from him to go to the laundry in the backyard where her gown was hanging on a cloths line. Marks face immediately went red as he saw the nice shape of her rear end. He turned quickly to the front door.

"Anyway, I'll see you later!" He called as he went through the front door to the porch. When he was a good fifteen feet from the cabin, he heard a small chuckle in his head.

_If it is strange that I walk around without clothing, how is you in your boxers any better?_

He stopped to look down at himself and indeed he was wearing nothing but a pear of boxers with yellow smiley faces all over them. He put his hands on his sides and waved his hand at himself with a look of annoyance.

_It's not better at all._ He sent back. He heard the chuckle again and turned around back to the house to get a change of cloths only to see a skull face surprising him when it made a quick yelling sound. Mark screamed and fell backwards on his ass. He groaned when he heard laughter from his new floating friend Grim.

"Good morning to you too, Grim." He groaned.

…

Mr. Conner was sweeping the front of his store when he heard footsteps approaching and was surprised to see Mark walking toward him, wearing actual clothing, a pear of jeans and a gray shirt with an unzipped black jacket.

"Mark!" Mr. Conner called to him. He leaned his broom against the building and walked over to Mark, pulling him into a quick hug. "Good to see you again, my boy!"

"Good to see you too, Mr. Conner." Mark said patting him on the back.

…

Mark told Mr. Conner that he felt better after the incident (Mr. Conner still didn't actually know what Mark went through, just heard he had an accident) and went back to being a desk boy. He was currently reading a magazine about Pokemon grooming out of boredom though he wasn't really paying attention to the words. He remembered what Christopher said about the cube being voice activated and had been pondering on that since he heard it.

He had no idea what the password would be to activate the Transfer Cube and had been trying to think of what it could be. Since it was originally in his fathers possession he tried to think of what his father would probably use as a password but out of everything he could think of, nothing happened. Zip. Shit.

He sighed aloud and flipped the next page. He was never going to get home.

The store door opened and Mark instantly said, "Welcome to the Petalburg Pokemart." Without turning his head.

He heard footsteps and asked again without looking, "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, you could say goodbye before I head off." Said a familiar voice.

He looked up and saw May.

"Hey!" He said with a smile. "Long time no see, what's up?"

"Like I said, I thought I would drop by before I had to leave."

"Heading off? To where?"

"I'm going to the Kalos region to do some tasks for the professor."

_Slave driver._ Mark thought but said out loud: "Yeah, that sounds pretty interesting."

"I heard that you have a Gardevoir with you know."

Mark raised an eyebrow at this. "Yeah, I do. Why you ask?"

"I just thought it was interesting, since Gardevoir's are a rare species. I found out that Gardevoir's, and there earlier forms, are now discovered to be also Fairy-Types!"

"Fairy-Types?" Mark asked now really curious.

"Yeah it's a new type of Pokemon! It's really exciting since I get to check out these new Pokemon!"

"Yeah, sounds awesome!" Mark said but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but imagine Scarlet with fairy wings.

May went silent which made Mark raise an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" He said pretending to sniff his armpit. "Do I offend?" He tried to make May smile again but it did not appear to work.

"Mark… I know that you were the guy from the news, the one who escaped the mysterious killer." She said with a little sadness.

Mark froze with a fake smile on his face. "Ha-ha, I'm afraid I don't know what your-"

"I'm not as ignorant of my surroundings as you think, Mark." She said flatly. "My dad tried making up a story saying that a tree branch in the forest where you live fell on top you and that you needed surgery." May looked at Mark in the eye with a weird expression. "But on the same day that they caught the murderer after the kidnapped guy killed him? I don't find it that convenient. Max still doesn't know, but it wasn't hard to put it together."

Mark just stood there in shock. He never thought May to be dim in the head but he sure as hell didn't expect her to be that observant, especially compared to her brother. The kid was damn genius.

Mays expression turned into pity. She put a hand on his forearm. "I'm so sorry that happened to you Mark. No one should ever have to go through something like that."

Mark shook his head with a smile that did not match his eyes. "Well, I did, but there's nothing else I can do about it. All I can do is try to move past it."

May nodded and handed Mark a piece of paper from her pocket. Mark grabbed it and opened the paper. "What's this?"

"It's the number to my Pokenav. If you ever need anyone to talk to, just call me, okay?"

Mark looked at the number then to her. He gave her a genuine smile. "I just might." He said.

She reached over the counter and gave him a hug, surprising him. He laughed lightly and hugged her back.

"See you around?" He asked.

"Yeah. See ya." She said and turned to walk out the door. Mark then remembered something important.

"Wait! What about the bike?" He remembered when he rode her bike back to his cabin on the day the whole Christopher thing happened. No one came to get it back yet.

"That old thing? You can go ahead and keep it. The professor gave me a new one for better climate." She waved to him before she left and he waved back. Mark looked in the back in the store and saw Mr. Conner smiling like an idiot giving Mark a thumb's up. Mark frowned and waved him off.

_Dirty old man._ Mark thought.

Mark was going to go back on his magazine when the store door opened again.

"Welcome to the Petalburg Pokemart, how may I help you?" Mark said straightening up with a workers 'you can trust me, I'm friendly!' smile. The person in question looked at Mark with a eyeing up expression that made Mark very uncomfortable. Mark took in the man's appearance. He was a bald man who couldn't have been no more than in his 30's and had a muscular an toned body. He was wearing a red shirt with a camo over vest and a pair of khakis.

The man was still observing Mark before he nodded to himself as if he just confirmed something. The man returned with a smile of his own. "Yeah, actually." He said his voice somewhat gravely. "I'm actually looking for something and all the other places I checked didn't have it."

"Have what?" Mark said and looked physically relieved. He didn't know why, but this man put him on edge. The way he was eyeing Mark earlier… it was almost as if he had saw Mark before.

"Ah, this thing isn't exactly your everyday thing to find. I sure hope you guys have it!"

"Well if you can describe it to me, I can tell you weather or not we have it but for the most part we just sell Pokeballs, potions, ether and the like."

The man walked over to Mark and handed him a slip of paper. "Well, I just have a gut feeling you guys might have it here."

Mark unfolded the paper and took a good look at it before Marks blood turned cold and his scar started to itch. The drawing was just a simple shape but Mark knew all to well what this thing was supposed to represent: It was a three-dimensional square.

The man leaned forward with a knowing smile and his eyes were staring menacingly at Mark while all he could do is gawk at the paper.

"Does this shop happen to carry this particular item?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Not alone.

_Mark walked down the road back to his house from school in the winter cold. It wasn't snowing yet, but it sure was cold as hell. He walked slowly to his destination, which was the nice warm sanctity of his house. It wouldn't have been so bad if he didn't have to walk for 40 minutes without a break. A wind rushed by and he shivered in his jacket. _

_He usually would have taken a ride from Rebecca but after what he saw he made a depressing realization. So he thought it best to try to stay out of her way. _

_He was too much in thought that he didn't see the person ahead and walked straight in to him. They both grunted and took a step back. Mark got a good look at the guy. He was about two heads taller then Mark and was really heavy set and had a Mohawk. He looked pissed._

"_Why the fuck don't you watch where your going, asshole!" The heavy set man said. _

"_Sorry." Mark muttered. _

_Mark took a step to the left and tried to walk past him, but the man took a step to his right blocking Mark. _

"'_Problem?" Mark asked a little wary. _

"_How much money you got?" The man asked eyeing up Mark. _

"_Why do you want to know…?" Mark took a step back._

"_Should be pretty obvious." The man said pulling out a knife. Mark stared at the weapon with wide eyes. _

"_Look, man, I don't want any trouble." Mark said quickly. _

"_Good, then hand me your fucking wallet." The man said dangerously, extending his hand. Mark put his hand in his pocket and went to grab his wallet. He frowned when he didn't feel it. Then he remembered that his wallet fell out of his pants pocket during gym when he put his cloths in his gym locker, so he just put it in his backpack to get there quick._

"_Wait, it's in my backpack." Mark said pulling off his bag off one shoulder to get in it with the other hand. "Just at least let me keep me library card." _

_The blades tip was suddenly against stomach causing him to pale. _

"_Nuh-uh." The man shook his head his eyes still on Mark. "And let you pull a gun or knife on_ me_? Fuck that, just hand me the bag."_

_Mark just gawked at the man. _

_People have those moments in life where the stupid side of them just can't help but talk through the mouth of the person the stupid side has infested. The stupid side of Mark decided to speak its mind through Marks mouth:_

"_Are you fucking retarded? Why the hell would I carry a fucking gun?" _

_Mark closed his mouth with an audible snap and his eyes widened and his face turned as white as the moon. He was so fucking dead. _

_The man pulled his lips from his teeth and adjusted his elbow to shove the knife into Mark. _

_Mark closed his eyes waiting for the worst. _

"_Hey!" A nearby voice shouted followed by the sound of a car horn. He looked back to see the car pull up not to far from where they where standing. Mark saw the driver and felt relief go through all out his body._

_Rebecca pulled up in her black hippie van. She leaned out the window to show her white face and black lips from the make up she wore all the time. She presented a fake smile and looked at Mark. _

"_What are you doing out here? Mom and dad are worried sick and sent me to get you!" She said still holding on to that smile. Mark knew right away that she was aware that he was in trouble to say something like that, considering that they weren't related in any way. _

"_Sorry," The man said trying to appear innocent. "But I need to borrow this guy for awhile. He offered to rake my lawn and was going to show him my place."_

_Mark looked at the man with a quick glare. _

"_Yeah, well he needs to hurry home. Come on, hurry up!" She said giving a Mark a slightly pleading look. Mark rushed to the car ignoring the arm that tried to grab him and pull him back. He jumped in through the open window on the passenger side and Rebecca pushed her foot on the pedal. Mark adjusted himself as she started to slow down after they got far away enough. _

"_Thanks for the save." Mark said with great appreciation. "I thought I was gonna get kill-"_

"_Where in the hell were you?!" Rebecca said with anger on the edge of her voice as well as concern. "I waited in the school parking lot for you and you didn't show up! I was worried!" _

_Mark just slumped back in his seat._

"_Don't piss me off. I want an answer." Rebecca said with a slight threatening edge._

"_I didn't mean to make you worry. I just wanted to walk this time."_

"_Bullshit. You wouldn't walk in this weather. I know you, Mark." She put a hand on his shoulder and he blushed a little. "Come on, what's up? You've been in a funk all day."_

_Mark was silent for a moment before he sighed and gave her brief explanation._

…

The man held onto his little smile as he stared at Mark with hard eyes as Mark only looked at the paper with sweat dripping down the sides of his head, some of it actually landing on the paper. Mark felt his throat go dry. He swallowed and he winced knowing it was loud enough for the man across from him to hear.

Mark, however, put up a small smile and tried to keep his cool again.

"I'm afraid you will have to explain what this object is in order for me to see if we have it in stock." Mark said with a fake smile.

"I think your well aware of what it is, Mark Foster." The man held onto his fake smile as well, but his voice became menacing. Mark flinched at the man saying his full name.

"Look, I think we are at a misunderstanding here." Mark tried to sound reasonable.

"Cut the shit, kid." The man's smile turned into a frown which made his voice match right along with his expression. Marks's smile faded.

"I know who you are. You're 'his' kid." Mark knew he was referring to his father.

Mark was at a loss for words. All he could do is gape slightly while sweat pours down his head. He felt like a trapped animal.

"Let me ask you again." The man said leaned toward Mark and he could smell…

Wait, was that alcohol on his breath? But they don't have anything like that in this world…

"Where is the damn thing?" The man tapped the piece of paper impatiently. "Where are you hiding it?!"

Before Mark could reply, a hand slammed down on the counter between. They both looked to see Mr. Conner staring hard at the stranger.

"Shop is going to close early today. I'm going to have to ask you to leave, mister."

Mark only stared at him in relief. Mark wondered about how much Mr. Conner had heard?

The man straightened up and smiled at Mr. Conner. "Alright, I'll take my leave." He turned to leave but cast a quick glance at Mark. "See you around, Mark."

And with that, he left. Mark turned to the concerned Mr. Conner.

"Thanks."

"No problem, my boy." Mr. Conner turned his head to the paper still on the desk. He looked at it curiously then shrugged and reached for the paper on the counter. Mark's eyes widened when he remembered that it was the square picture. Mr. Conner adjusted his glasses as he inspected the drawing. He shook his head.

"Got-dang, loony's." He muttered then turned to Mark. "Maybe you should go back home. You'll be safer around that Gardevoir of yours then here."

"I can't just bail out-"

"Pish-posh! You still didn't even finish that vacation of yours and now might be a good time to finish it up." Mr. Conner's tone was that as of the conversation was ended.

"Mr-"

"Be sure to be back on time in three weeks."

…

Mark slowly walked down the trail looking back behind him every so often. He didn't feel like he was being followed, but you could never know for sure.

_Who the hell was that guy?_

This thought kept running through his head over and over.

_Didn't that psycho fuck say something mention something about there being others? Then again, I was scared shitless I probably misheard him. But it would make sense. This guy knows who I am and obviously knows where I came from, I mean, come on, he knew my dad! _

Another thought caused him to stop and pale with wide eyes.

_What if he's another Christopher?_

He gripped his chest where a scar ran through underneath his shirt. Mark didn't know what he would do if it was another Christopher?

Mark forced himself to not think about that at the moment. After a few moments he reached his log cabin and he felt a little relieved. Home sweet home.

He walked up the steps and opened the door.

"I'm home-"

He was suddenly launched back into the ground with an "oof!". He winced and looked at his chest to see Grim snuggling up against him.

"Hey Grim. Could you get, please?"

The Pokemon floated above him and looked down on him as he got up. Grim was only around for a week, and he was like an annoying little brother, which Mark had gotten used to rather quickly.

It was still irritating, but he was used to it.

Mark patted Grim on the head as he walked inside with the little reaper floating shortly behind. He closed the door behind him and then frowned in realization.

He looked to Grim: "Where's Scarlet?"

Grim pointed a dark sleeved tiny arm to Mark's room. He slowly walked to his room to see the sleeping body of the female Pokemon. She was snoring slightly in a curled up ball with a hand near her mouth. Mark's mouth turned up into a smile looking at her.

_She looks so peaceful. _Mark thought. He grabbed a spare blanket from the closet in the room and laid it over her. She stirred a bit then nuzzled into the pillow more. Mark leaned closer to her and pushed brushed her hair behind her ear causing her to giggle a little in her sleep. Mark laughed lightly himself and looked at Grim who was silently watching himself.

"There any food made?"

…

Mark ate a bowl of spaghetti as he told Grim what happened at the PokeMart with weird bald man. When Mark told the little reaper, given that most Pokemon could somehow understand human language, he didn't react to it. If anything, he didn't really care about it. He just wanted to hang around Mark.

Grim, however, cared this time greatly for what Mark had to say this time. Mark told him how the man basically asked him to hand him over the Transfer Cube.

"He didn't threaten to kill me or anything." Mark continued on. "He just seemed… desperate. Really desperate."

Mark sighed and put the empty bowl down on the table and leaned back into his chair.

"I can't blame him there though. I want to go home too, but if he ends up being… someone like Christopher, I can't send him back like that, all fucked up in the head ready to sell all the other Pokemon out for Nobel prizes and shit. I just don't know what to do here, Grim."

Grim floated toward Mark plopped on his lap and looked up at him with his one glowing eye. Grim raised his arms at Mark. Mark grinned at Grim's attempt to make Mark cheer up. He patted the Pokemon's head with a little chuckle.

"Thanks, Grim. I appreciate it."

"'Skull!" Grim did a little salute.

"I need to tell Scarlet about this too when she wakes up." Mark looked over to the direction of his room with a slightly sad look. She has been a wonderful companion to have around but he felt he was being too needy and vulnerable around her. Mark was recovering well for just a week after the incident but he really relied on her too much. She was there to hold him when he cried like a sobbing baby last night, she had helped him clean his scar, she was even the one who started cutting off the unnecessary stitches off of Mark. He had been nothing but needy when she came in there to live with him.

"Aren't I a piece of work?" He said to himself.

Grim looked up at Mark curiously. Mark looked back at Grim with a false smile. "Eh, forget I said that." He sighed. "But still, now I have a chrome-dome to worry about now. I don't think the Cube would be safe here. If he knows my name, he probably knows where I live." He gently grabbed Grim and put him on his shoulder as he got up to walk to his room.

He was surprised to see Scarlet sitting up and looking at him. Her expression was serious.

"Scarlet? How long have you been up?"

_Long enough to hear your talk with Grim. _She got up and stretched, making her breasts bulge against the containment of her gown. Mark blushed and quickly turned his gaze to her face.

_What are you going to do?_

"I have an idea, but I sure as hell don't want to do it." Mark said as he walked over to the curtain and closed it. He continued to remove the secret compartment in the floorboards.

_What's the idea? _

Mark grabbed his iphone, three decks of yu-gi-oh cards (He was a hardcore player with a deck in every pocket when he appeared there), his wallet, then the cube within the confounds of an old rag.

"What I'm going to do was against my father's wishes to keep the cube safe but I'm going to have to take the risk if I want to make sure nothing happens to it."

_What?_ Scarlet started to get irritated from being kept in suspense.

Mark held up the now unraveled Transfer Cube. It glowed in it's strange blue light that one could stare into forever.

"I'm going to have to ditch the cube off to someone for the time being. And I know just the person."

…

"_Okay, you really want to know what the problem is?" Mark asked in a slightly heated manner. "It's that when you leave, I'm going to be stuck here in this shit pile of a school when you're gone." _

_Rebecca looked at Mark with furrowed brows. _

"_You're going to Harvard, Rebecca. I'll still be here for another 3 fucking years. You're literally, like, the only person I hang out with."_

"_You make me sound like I'm some sort of fucking popular prom queen. In case if you have forgotten, I'm a goth, and most of the people there don't take to kindly to us. Hell, I'm surprised they invited me to go to the senior party!"_

"_But at least you have a group to hang out with! Everyone in your group hates my guts and everyone else doesn't want anything to do with me!"_

"_That's not true!" She sounded a little offended at the way he was treating himself. _

"_Name ONE person that actually wanted to even start a conversation with me on any stupid subject. ONE." _

_Silence._

"_Okay, look…" She said slowly. They pulled in front of Mark's currently empty house but Rebecca wouldn't let him leave just yet. "First off, stop putting yourself down like that. I'm sure you'll make friends next year, you're a cool guy and someone will realize that. Second, it's not like I'm going to leave you forever. I can still keep in contact with you over Facebook or something. Third, how about this."_

_She grabbed the top of Marks head and aimed his face a hers. "I'll sneak you into the senior party. How does that sound."_

_On the inside, Mark felt excited but on the outside was this reply. "You know I'm not into that shit."_

"_Maybe, maybe not, but that will be our last day to hang around with each other. Besides, I don't think anyone will notice or care. I think I got invited out of tradition rather then because they give a damn."_

_Mark just sat there. He didn't want to go, but at the same time the thought excited him._

"_When's it at?" Mark asked after a few moments of silence. _

"_In two months on Friday. At Johnsons place up the hill."_

"_Alright. I'm down." _

"_Alright." She looked happy at Mark saying yes. "Now lets go inside. I'm starving and your parents has better food then the shit at my house."_

_End Chapter 8._

Chapter 8.5: Heart of the cards.

Mark was looking through a pile of Yu-Gi-Oh cards that he brought with him from his world. He loved collecting cards in reality, but from freshman to junior year, he had still had yet anyone to duel, so he stuck with dueling network.

_Mark, have you seen Grim?_

Scarlet suddenly popped her head in the doorway to Mark's room.

_I've been looking all over for him, but I can't seem to find him anywhere._

"Might be playing out in the forest somewhere. He'll be fine, don't worry." Mark said this without even looking up.

_What are those?_ Scarlet asked with a very curious expression.

"These?" Mark asked while holding up a deck. "Something that some people in my world play."

_Play? So these are for some sort of game? Like the "Go fish"?_

Mark let out a little chuckle. "No, not like that at all! It's a lot more complicated then that."

_Well, I don't have anything to do, and I can tell that falling down the porch steps because Grim snuck up on you again was the highlight of your day-_

"Hey!" Mark said defensively. "I'm still trying to get used to that!"

Scarlet only chuckled. _So, with nothing better to do, why don't you teach me? We literally have all day._

"Well, if you want to." Mark said. "But, it might take awhile to explain all the rules, so you'll have to listen carefully."

…

Mark and Scarlet had walked into the living room and Mark used a Dragon deck and a Spellcaster deck as reference. He showed her how to play on the coffee table. Scarlet just listened intently while Mark explained every rule of the game and how each card works. After about three hours, Scarlet got the hang of it.

_Okay, I think I'm ready._ Scarlet announced.

"Are you sure?" Mark asked a little surprised. "It's only a few hours!"

_Don't worry, I got everything down. With me being psychic, it won't be hard to remember or search my own mind._

_Still sounds a little creepy. _Mark thought.

"Alright, which deck do you want to use?"

_I'll use dragons. _Scarlet said as she grabbed the deck.

"Alright, I'll use Spellcasters." Mark grabbed his deck.

_But let's make this a little interesting, shall we?_

Mark raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

_Loser has to do one thing the winner says, no questions asked. _She announced.

Mark smirked. "Real confident for yourself, eh?"

Scarlet returned with a smirk of her own.

"Ok, ladies first!" Mark turned on a life point app on his phone.

_Well, then the honor is yours, Mark!_ She said jokingly. Mark smiled. He liked her sense of humor.

Scarlet: 8000

Mark: 8000

"Guess I'll go first then." Mark drew a card from his stack. _Not a bad start._ He thought as got a good look at his cards.

"I summon Breaker The Magical Warrior in attack mode!" (Atk: 1600/Def: 1000)Mark placed the card on the table. "And by his effect, he gets one counter, giving 300 extra attack points." (Atk:1600-1900) He put a coin on the card as a representation. "And I'll equip him Black Pendant, giving him another 500." (Atk: 1900-2400) "And with that, I end my turn."

_I'll draw._ She said as she did so. She revealed a card to Mark. _I activate Pot Of Greed, allowing me to draw 2 cards. _She now had 7 card's in her hand. She then revealed another card in her hand. _Next I will activate Melody Of Awakening Dragon. I discard one card and add 2 dragons with over 3000 attack and less or equal to 2500 defense. And I'll discard The White Stone Of Legend._

Mark's eyes went wide as she fished out three cards from her deck to her hand. _She has some mad skills!_

She now had 8 cards in her hand.

_Next, I will activate Polymerization and Fusion Summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. _She placed three Blue-Eyes White Dragons from her hand to the graveyard to summon the over powered beast. (Atk:4500/Def:3800)

_Next, I will activate Smashing Ground, allowing me to destroy one monster on your side of the field with the highest defense. Since you only have one monster, I'll choose Breaker. And I'm aware that I take 500 damage._

Mark placed the card to the Graveyard.

Scarlet: 7500

Mark: 8000

_Even if she attacks directly, I'll still be in this. Barely._

But Scarlet wasn't done yet. _Next I will activate De-Fusion. By sending my dragon back to the extra deck, I can special summon the Fusion Materials to the field from the graveyard. _

Mark gaped as she placed three Blue-Eyes White Dragons on the field. (Atk:3000/Def:2500 x 3)

_And next I will attack you directly with all three of them._

Scarlet: 7500 (Winner)

Mark: 0

_And I believe that is game, right? _She asked him in a mock question.

"You're very first duel, and you OTK'D me." Mark smiled as he bowed. "I have nothing left to teach you, young grasshopper."

_Ok… _She frowned, not getting the reference. _But, a deal is a deal, right?_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, what do you want me to do?"

_Hmmm… _She held her chin in thought. _Close your eyes. _

Mark just stared. "What?"

_Just do it._

Mark shrugged and closed his eyes.

Scarlet's face turned red as she briefly thought about weather or not she should even do this. This was kind of wrong, but she was really curious though…

"Scarlet?" Mark asked. He was starting to think that maybe she left him there in a small childish prank. While he was thinking this, Scarlet got closer and closer to Mark, their faces near each other. She could hear her heart beat in her ears and she was sweating a little.

Mark, oblivious to this, was just craving a donut for no reason.

Her lips were near his…

"DUSKULL!"

The sudden yell made Scarlet instinctively move forward, causing her to miss Mark's lips and instead she bumped her head into his nose, making him yelp in pain. Scarlet was holding her forehead trying to use her powers to make the pain for herself dissipate. Behind her, Grim was laughing.

Scarlet growled at the skull-faced pocket monster, causing Grim to sweat drop and fly back to the door. Scarlet chased after him in anger but slammed into a wall that Grim phased through.

Mark regained enough composure to hold his slightly bleeding nose and look at Scarlet who was seeing stars at the moment. Mark didn't know what happened in the moments that he was immobilized, but seeing Scarlet on the ground was enough to make him worry.

"Scarlet!" Mark's voice was muffled by his hand. "You alright?"

He picked her up in his arms making her yelp in surprise.

"Man, I think that's going to turn into a shiner!" He said while tracing one hand on one of her eyes, making her face match her name.

"Here, lay down on the couch, I'll get some ice!" He put her on the couch and rushed to the kitchen. She couldn't help but smile despite the pain.

_Didn't go well as expected._ She thought as Mark came back with a small rag with ice in it and gently put it over her eye. _But this is nice, too._

End chapter 8.5

…

_I just want to say that Melody Of Awakening Dragon is a real card but only in Japan as far as I know._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Hand Over.

Mark plopped down onto his couch with a sigh playing with the cube in his left hand. He didn't want to do this. He _really _didn't want to do this. He held the cube up and looked into its glow with a blank expression.

_Mark._

Mark looked to his side to see Scarlet sit down next to him.

_There isn't a need for this. I can protect it while in here. He won't be able to get past me. _

"He might have a Pokemon of his own. It could be a well trained Dark-Type or something, you never know. I just want to make absolutely sure that this is safe."

_But…_

Mark saw her expression and he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry so much." He said in a soft tone. "I don't like to do this, but you know he will take good care of the cube. The man did go through my stuff on numerous occasions while I was at work, but he will make sure nothing happens to it." She didn't respond to this.

"It's not that I don't trust you, I swear." He took the comforting a step further and pulled her into a hug. "I do trust you. I really do."

She responded to this by hugging him back. She knew it was true, Mark did now trust her, maybe not completely but more then he did the day he got kidnapped for half a day, but even then… even then, she knew he was right, ordinary humans wouldn't last in a fight with her, but if the man did have a Pokemon, he did stand a chance. All it had to be was a Ghost or Dark type. Technically, Grim could take on Scarlet, and Grim was a child Pokemon.

Psychics are called some of strongest Pokemon, and Scarlet felt useless.

"Hey." He patted her on the back. "I'd let you have my back anytime. I just don't want to risk anything with this one."

_I know._ She leaned her head on his chest. She felt something land on top of her head and she pulled away to see Grim looking down at her. Grim then proceeded to float off her head onto her lap and looked up at her with that one glowing eye. Scarlet smiled and rubbed the top of her head.

"Trying to cheer me up?" She asked.

"I don't like it when my big sister is sad! So cheer up!" He raised his cloaked arms for emphasis. Scarlet just laughed.

Mark just smiled. He didn't understand what they were saying, but it was nice to see Scarlet cheer up.

"We should get ready." Mark said standing up. "Our guest will be here soon. I'll get lunch started."

…

Mark waited by the door. He already had some food on the table, sandwich's and other stuff, and he was getting impatient. He called him about 30 minutes ago, and by Pokemon flight, he should have been there by now.

_Something's coming. I think it's him. _Scarlet said coming up behind Mark.

"About damn time." Mark muttered. He opened the door and walked outside with Scarlet behind him with Grim floating aside her. They stood out side while a something flying in the air was closing in. It landed and before then stood a Flygon. It looked behind it and then its trainer hopped off.

"Your late, professor." Mark said as the man appeared before him in his lab coat.

Prof. Birch laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that. I got held up a little bit longer back at the lab then I thought I would."

"You could have called over and let me know, man."

"Like I said, I was really held up! Couldn't have time to do anything so I came straight back here when I had the time."

"Well, whatever." Mark said and was now smiling. "Glad you came by."

"I'm actually surprised you invited me to lunch." Birch said as he, Mark, and scarlet walked up the porch to the cabin (Grim was of course floating). "I thought you didn't like me."

"To be completely honest, I do and don't. Probably wouldn't be like that if I didn't catch you looking through my stuff."

"Again, I'm sorry, but as a man my profession, my curiousness gets the best of me."

"Hmm." Was Marks only response.

They went to the kitchen inside. Birch's stomach began to rumble when he saw the assortment of food on the table.

"I'm still really glad you invited me for lunch. I haven't eaten anything for hours!"

…

An hour or so had passed. The professor talked about projects, things that happened in the lab, funny stories and such. Mark threw in his own parts here and there about things that happened in the shop (Excluding the bald man incident). Scarlet just listened stroking the top of Grim's head while he slept on her lap.

"… And when the Charizard let me go, I was so relieved to be close to the ground again that I practically kissed the ground." Mark said finishing his story.

The professor laughed. "You really need to fly with Pokemon more, Mark! It took me awhile to get used to it myself."

"It's not exactly a pleasant experience for me. If I have to fly ever again, I'm pretty sure I'll have a heart attack." Mark said a little sheepish.

Prof. Birch laughed again and ate the last of his sandwich. After he swallowed he looked at Mark with seriousness. "Anyway, what did you actually call me here for? You said you had something for me."

Mark matched his expression but did not reply. Instead he put his hand in his pocket and brought a small rag into view and handed it to Prof. Birch. The professor opened slowly and his eyes widened when he opened the rag, revealing its contents.

"Mark… this is-"

"Yes. It's the cube." Mark said simply. "You shouldn't be so surprised by it. You've seen it when I first got here, remember?"

"The cube doesn't surprise me! Well, it's still a stunning invention, but what surprise's me is you handing it to me."

"Birch, you know I wouldn't hand it over without a reason, so-"

"I know that, Mark. You don't need to say anything." Birch stood up and stretched. "I'm assuming that the reason you would hand something like this over to me is you feel it is unsafe for the time being, right?"

"I know you weren't a scientist for nothing, Birch." Mark said his expression unchanged.

The professor nodded and headed out the door. He stopped at the doorway and turned his head to look at Mark with a smile on his face.

"If I _can_ find anyway to access this thing, you'll be the first to know, Mark. I promise you that." Birch promised.

Mark returned his smile and nodded. "You take good care of that thing."

The professor nodded and walked out the door.

_You sure you're okay with this Mark?_ Scarlet asked now beside Mark.

"Not really." He said as Birch got on his Flygon and flew off. "But Birch might even be able to get the damn thing to work."

…

The man that harassed Mark stood a good distance observing the scientist fly off on his strange looking Pokemon. If he remembered right, it was supposed to be a Ground-Dragon-Type. Either way, it was pretty obvious why the kid would even do that in that in the first place. He was hiding the cube. But, it wouldn't even matter. The guy's lab was in little root, and it would be a what? Less then a week walk? He did live a few towns away, but, as mentioned, no matter. He shrugged. He could start tomorrow.

"Hey!" He heard someone whisper behind him. He turned around and instinctively grabbed the individual behind him by the throat. He looked at the person behind him with a blank stare. He frowned in thought when he looked at the man he was choking.

"Is that you jack?" The bald man asked. The response he got was his fingers attempting to get pried off.

"Oh. That's right. I'm still chocking you." Jack's eyes were starting to roll up in the back of his head.

"Here." He let go of jack. Jack got on his hands and knees and gasped air inside his lungs.

"So, how have been?"

"YOU NEARLY CHOCKED ME TO DEATH, YOU FUCKER!" Jack didn't yell this at full volume as to not alarm the people in the cabin but the anger was still in his voice all the same.

"It's your fault you sneaked up on me." The man stated simply.

"Fuck you, Mortimer!"

"Now I'll ask again." Mortimer said crossing his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"You… didn't ask that earlier."

"Well, I'm asking you now, why are you here?"

Jack grinned ear to ear like a fool. "Man, you are NOT going to believe what happened since we last saw each other!" Jack frowned for a second and sniffed the air. "Also, where did you get booze?"

…

_I know this is short, and I'm sorry for that, but I'm experiencing writer's block, so I need to do some thinking for a little while on what I need to do for this story. _

_But on that note, I have been on this site for 2 months now (Yay) and I am happy top be here. And next chapter is going to be my tenth, so I am going to offer something which I thought I was never going to do: Q&A. If you were to ask me a question, I would answer it, but if you have a question towards one my characters, they would be willing be answer. _

_Scarlet: within reason. _

_Mark: seconded. _

_Of course. _

_Now, to all of you, see you later. _

_Turtyrus. _

…

Chapter 9.5: Slender.

Mark laid on his bed, playing on his phone. He jumped when the speaker on his phone turn to static.

"Fuck!" He muttered with irritation.

_What's the matter? _Scarlet asked as she came in with a couple of sandwiches for her and Mark.

He muttered a thanks when she handed him one and answered. "Ah, nothing, just my game ticking me off a bit." He said then took a bite out of his sandwich.

_A game?_

"It's a slender game. Used to be only on PC, but it went main stream after awhile, becoming an app and everything. It lost it's pazzaz, but I still play on occasions."

_May I give it a try?_ Scarlet asked, curious about the game.

"Sure, knock yourself out." He said handing her the phone.

She pushed the start game button and was placed in a forest.

_This is a little creepy. _

"It's a horror game, so I'd imagine so." Mark said.

_So, what am I supposed to do? _

"You have to walk around and keep looking for signs. Like that one." He pointed on the screen and sure enough, a sign was nearby. It read "Has no eyes."

Scarlet paled a little. _What does it mean by that? _

"Easy, it's just a game. Grab the sign by tapping it." She did so and suddenly there was a beat.

_What is that?! _Scarlet said sounding frightened.

"The more signs you grab, the creepier the beat gets. Also, slender will get closer with every sign you get."

_WAIT, WHAT!?_

"Hey! It's just a game you have nothing to be scared of!" Mark tried to calm her down as she played but she was still paler as she ventured in the game. "Look, do you want me to take the game back? You don't have to play if you don't want to."

_No! I-I-I'm not scared! _She sounded a little defensive. _It's just a game, right? So I can handle this "Slender"-_

She moved her thumb to turn to a different direction and then the surprise piano played and a tall slender figure appeared before her in the game. She screamed and used her psychic powers to toss the phone through the glass window with a crash.

_I SAW HIM!_

"My phone!"

…

End chapter 9.5


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